NRL Notepad: Cowboys v Sea Eagles

Thursday Night Footy is a bit of a risk for those with an early start on Friday. Unfortunately for those who stayed through to the end, it wasn’t worth it…

Tom’s Terrible Luck: Oh man… You couldn’t help but feel for Tom Trobojevic as he looked to the heavens while limping off the field with another hamstring injury.

It’s difficult not to be cautious about excitement around Trbojevic. An injury always feels as though it’s just around the corner. However, with six fit games to start the NRL season - a lengthy run by his standards - and impressive performances throughout, the praise came.

First, Kieran Foran highlighted his preason before kickoff:

And in one of the more unlucky commentators curses, Cooper Cronk claimed “when Tom’s on, he does things like that.”

That being a sweeping run down the short side, into the space between the markers and A, pushing through a tackle to generate momentum.

That also being the exact moment Trbojevic clutched at his hamstring.

Foran mentioned scans on Monday, but Trbojevic’s face perhaps hinted at the severity. He looks set for a few weeks - at least - on the sidelines just as the Sea Eagles season had started to turn. In positive news, Tolutau Koula looked excellent at fullback in Trbojevic’s place, and based on Foran’s comments and the reps he took over the preseason, we should expect to see the 23-year-old named there again for Round 8.

Cowboys Handling Errors Lead To Defensive Errors: The Cowboys committed their fourth handling error only 15 minutes into the game, and the Sea Eagles made them pay.

But while the handling in yardage put them under pressure, the errors in line organisation exposed the cracks. Manly’s first two tries came through simple short side plays, exposing a numbers advantage and playing through the hands to Lehi Hopoate on the wing.

They first used the same 12-block that proved so successful against the Dolphins to strip North Queensland on the edge. Jake Trbojevic holding up the A defender on Luke Brooks’ inside is an important part of the half being able to sell the dummy with three outside him.

Manly went back to it not long after, again finding success. Having scrambled the line forcing Scott Drinkwater into the tackle, North Queensland’s numbers are off. They’re tight around the ruck with only two genuine defenders down the shortside once you consider the A defender is occupied by the dummy half.

With the advantage in numbers out wide, a simple block play out of dummy half is all they need to send Hopoate over for his second try.

As the errors piled up, fatigue rose in the Cowboys and they had few answers defensively. However, the tries conceded early with fresh legs came too easily, and will be something Todd Payten likely covers extensively on review this week.

Tackle Breaking Trbo: Nope, not Tom. Not even Ben. We’re talking Jake here.

The veteran lock forward has been in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons to start 2026, and while his numbers aren’t what they were, he ended a quite incredible drought in Round 7.