Should Manly Move Tom Trbojevic To Centre?

The problem for the Manly Sea Eagles is that we've spent far too much time talking about how good Turbo is when he's healthy and nowhere near enough time asking how they can actually keep him that way.

His performance against Newcastle was another reminder of what Manly look like when Trbojevic is fit and firing. He doesn't simply make individual plays, his presence seems to change the confidence of the entire side and suddenly players around him look considerably more dangerous.

That's exactly why Manly should seriously consider moving him to centre, not because he can no longer play fullback, but because keeping their best player on the field should now be more important than keeping the No.1 on his back.

We've seen this story enough times to know how it works and the numbers speak for themselves, since his debut in 2015 the Sea Eagles have won 53% of games when he plays compared to just 35% of games when he is out.

When Trbojevic is healthy, Manly have an attacking weapon capable of deciding games almost by himself. He can break a defensive line, create for the players around him and turn relatively ordinary attacking situations into points.

The Newcastle game was another example. Manly arrived after six consecutive losses and walked away with a convincing victory against a Knights side playing at home on Old Boys Day.

Turbo wasn't solely responsible for that result, but his influence was impossible to miss. The problem is that Manly's ceiling has become tied far too closely to whether he is physically available.

Fullback is one of the most physically demanding positions in rugby league. There are the kick returns and attacking involvements we see, but also the enormous amount of work happening behind the defensive line.

Moving Trbojevic to centre would potentially remove some of those kilometres from his legs without removing his ability to influence games.

He wouldn't need to become a traditional centre who simply stays planted on one edge either. Give him licence to roam when Manly have the football and allow him to appear wherever the opportunity presents itself.

We've already seen his ability to play centre at representative level. The question isn't whether he has the skillset to do it, it's whether Manly are prepared to sacrifice some of his involvement in exchange for potentially getting considerably more football out of him.

Reuben Garrick's departure also creates a natural opportunity for Manly to reconsider how their backline and spine should look moving forward.

There are other pieces they need to settle, particularly around the halves and fullback, but that shouldn't automatically mean Trbojevic remains locked into the No.1 jersey.

Manly could instead build a structure that allows someone else to handle the workload at fullback while Turbo becomes their strike weapon in the centres. Put him on an edge, let him pick his moments and then bring him into the middle when Manly enter attacking territory.

Defensive sides would still have to account for him every time Manly get near their line. The difference is he wouldn't necessarily have to cover the same ground for 80 minutes to create that threat.

There is an obvious counterargument here and its the point that if Trbojevic stays healthy at fullback, Manly potentially have one of the best players in the competition playing his best position. Moving him elsewhere could reduce the influence of the very player they're trying to protect.

That's the gamble, but at some point Manly have to ask whether continuing with the same approach and hoping for a different outcome makes sense.

Turbo doesn't need 25 touches and countless kilometres in his legs to hurt an opposition. Give a player with his running ability, passing game and football intelligence ten or fifteen quality involvements and he can still tear a defensive line apart.

The best position for Tom Trbojevic might still be fullback, but the best position for Manly's version of Tom Trbojevic, though, could now be somewhere else.