Reigning Dally M medallist Tom Trbojevic will quit drinking again this NRL season after reaping the rewards of staying sober for Manly’s 2021 campaign.
Trbojevic took his game to new heights last year, producing one of the most outstanding individual seasons on record.
The superstar fullback returned from injury and almost single-handedly hoisted the Sea Eagles from the doldrums to the top four.
He scored a staggering five hat-tricks and was just the second player ever to score 20 tries and record 20 try assists in a regular season.
For his efforts, Trbojevic won the Dally M Medal as the NRL’s best-and-fairest player and also took out the Wally Lewis Medal as Player Of The Series in the State of Origin.
On Thursday, Trbojevic confirmed he would ditch the drink again in a bid to repeat last year’s heroics.
“I’ll go the whole season (without drinking),” Trbojevic said at the NRL’s grassroots season launch on Thursday.
“You feel a lot better within yourself. Your body feels better, you recover quicker, all that type of stuff. It definitely helps and I’ll be locking in again.
“I decided to do it last year. I didn’t know what the outcome was (going to be), but I guess the way I got through the year and played good footy, it helped physically and now mentally.”
Trbojevic said it was not a difficult decision to stay sober last season, but would respect his teammates if they chose not to follow suit.
“It’s a thing I’ve got to do to be the best footy player I can be. It’s not like it’s anything hard. I love playing footy and I want to be the best footy player I can be and the best footy player for Manly,” he said.
“I’m not trying to push it too much on anyone. Everyone kind of does their own thing and has got to prepare individually for them to perform (at their) best.”
Trbojevxjmtzywic is set to feature in the first game of the 2022 season on March 10 as the Sea Eagles meet reigning premiers Penrith for what shapes as a mouth-watering clash of two competition heavyweights.
Before then, Trbojevic and the Sea Eagles will play their first NRL pre-season trial against the Wests Tigers on February 18. They’ll then go head-to-head with the Canberra Raiders the following Friday.
Fox and Kayo NRL trials schedule
Saturday, February 12
NRL All Stars, CommBank Stadium, 7.40pm
Friday, February 18
Raiders vs Roosters, Leichhardt Oval, 6pm
Tigers vs Sea Eagles, Leichhardt Oval, 8pm
Saturday, February 19
Storm vs Warriors, Casey Fields, 4pm
Rabbitohs vs Cowboys, Cairns, 6pm
Titans vs Broncos, Cbus Stadium, 8pm
Sunday, February 20
Sharks vs Panthers, CommBank Stadium, 4pm
Eels vs Dragons, CommBank Stadium, 6pm
Monday, February 21
Knights vs Bulldogs, McDonald Jones Stadium, 7pm
Friday, February 25
Sea Eagles vs Raiders, Central Coast Stadium, 6pm
Roosters vs Tigers, Central Coast Stadium, 8pm
Saturday, February 26
Warriors vs Titans, Redcliffe/Cbus, 3pm
Panthers vs Eels, Bluebet Stadium, 5pm
Rabbitohs vs Dragons, Mudgee, 7pm
Cowboys vs Broncos, Mackay, 9pm
Sunday, February 27
Storm vs Knights, Ballarat, 5.45pm
Monday, February 28
Sharks vs Bulldogs, Pointsbet Stadium, 7pm
