CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Manly Sea Eagles prop Jake Trbojevic has this week rubbished claims that he and his brother Tom are leading a factional divide within the embattled rugby league club.
This as comes as the off-season NRL rumour mill begins to blow smoke, after months of gossip suggesting that the Trbojevic brothers are looking for an early exit from the club following Des Hasler’s sacking.
J-Turbo, also known as Jurbo, has also denied rumours of a rift between him and his brothers and skipper Daly Cherry-Evans, after finishing the season with a seven-match losing streak
Veteran coach and former iconic player, Des Hasler was dismissed earlier this month after the Sea Eagles Board decided to burn the entire institution to the ground without giving a reason.
This follows a binfire of a few months for Sydney’s Northern Beaches football club, starting with the disaster roll-out of the club’s Pride jersey, and subsequent religious boycott from seven of the club’s stars.
Despite the dismal end to the season, the club had actually begun 2022 as widely tipped finals contenders, that was before the disruptions of injury, religion and their marketing team deciding the Sea Eagles should become gay rights activists without any consultation of the players.
However, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, Manly fans and administrators alike are looking forward.
Through the rough seas of alleged and perhaps completely fictional rifts amongst players, beyond the drama surrounding their board’s most recent kneejerk decision to sack the coach, and into a future where the club wins as many premierships as they did when Watmough and the Stewart brothers were tearing a hole through wharf bar every Saturday.
Former Broncos and Rabbitohs coach Anthony Seibold, a former assistant at Manly, is the number one tip to take over from Hasler. This is the first step to fixing everything.
The next step is to bring in a new temporary chairman to oversee the stabilisation of the divided club.
The early frontrunner for this mammoth task is former Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a man who has been recognised for his ability to rein in religious zealots while also promoting progressive values that make life easier for gay people.
Born and raised in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, Turnbull is only a skip and a jump away from Manly, and is reportedly more than willing to ditch his Swans scarf for a Sea Eagles muftie.
With a track record of being able to unite divided institutions by ousting their leaders, and decimating toxic inner-circles to help the organisation, the former Prime Minister has all but accepted the new role – but has one request.
That the club’s #1 ticket holder and his political predessor Tony Abbott doesn’t step one fucken foot inside Brookvale Oval while he’s there.
