- Seibold criticises allegations that the club encouraged Trbojevic to sacrifice his salary
- The full-back approached the club to request a pay cut due to his injuries
- The coach was disappointed that the club’s integrity was questioned
Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold has responded to claims that the club encouraged superstar fullback Tom Trbojevic to sacrifice a large portion of his salary over the next two seasons as a way of paying them for the games he missed while injured.
It emerged earlier this week that Trbojevic had offered to essentially pay back $750,000 over the next two years after missing so much football through injury, and his teammates were not surprised to hear that the local youngster wanted to help the club.
“I spoke to Seibs (Seibold) about the issue and we discussed it with the management team. We looked at some options, but nothing materialised,” Trbojevic said on Tuesday.
But what was supposed to be a goodwill gesture has been questioned by people who are convinced it was the club’s idea so Manly could free up some money to spend on other players.
The move was quickly blocked by the NRL and Seibold is angry that the story has come to light and people have questioned the motives of one of the game’s biggest stars who is back to his best after suffering another hamstring injury earlier in the year.
“It’s very disappointing to hear some people question the integrity of ‘Turbo’ or the integrity of the club,” he said.
‘Turbo came to me and said he wanted to take a pay cut because he felt he had missed a lot of football.
Anthony Seibold (pictured) said it was disappointing to hear people questioning the integrity of ‘Turbo’ or the integrity of the Manly club.
The NRL has rejected Tom Trbojevic’s (pictured) one-off idea to cut his salary by $750,000
“It was a very difficult conversation for him to have with the coach and tell him that. That was all buried, the NRL said he can’t do that.
‘I think that says a lot about his character (making the offer).
“I was very disappointed by what was said in the media. I think that kind of thing should be resolved privately.
“I think the integrity of people who question that it was the club that had the conversation with Turbo is simply not true.”
The former Dally M Medal winner will play his 150th NRL game against the Bulldogs on Friday, and Trbojevic will be back to his best having scored nine tries and assisted 10 in his six games at fullback since returning from injury.
That injury ruled him out of the entire State of Origin series, with some questioning whether he should move to centre and whether he would ever be at his best again after so many disruptions.
Seibold said Trbojevic’s gesture says a lot about his character.
“When I first met him in 2016, when I coached that year as an assistant here, he had a ton of ability,” Seibold said.
“But I thought he would go this far in the game just because of his work ethic and how diligent he is and was as a professional.
‘It’s probably not unusual for every player to have some doubts at certain times, whether it’s due to lack of form, injuries or any other challenge.
“Turbo is not immune to that, (but) I never had any doubt that he would come back and be at his best.”