{"id":519328,"date":"2026-03-05T02:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T02:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/519328\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T02:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T02:15:09","slug":"the-changes-jake-trbojevic-has-made-to-keep-his-nrl-career-alive-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/519328\/","title":{"rendered":"The changes Jake Trbojevic has made to keep his NRL career alive – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manly’s heart and soul of the club, Jake Trbojevic<\/a>, has undergone some major changes during the offseason in a bid to keep his NRL<\/a> career alive.<\/p>\n

Coming off three rough concussions during the 2025 season, he is wary of the threat that another brutal head knock may force him into an early retirement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The danger of a head injury was something that had only crept into Trbojevic’s career in recent years. In contrast, he went the majority of his earlier career without sustaining any brutal blows.<\/p>\n

Luckily, it doesn’t seem it will get to the point of retirement discussions, with the club moving to alter his training procedures to ensure he is well-prepared when he enters the field on Saturday night against the Raiders.<\/p>\n

A switch up in routine from Manly’s medical team has seen him do plenty of hours in the gym to work on his neck strength. It’s a technique introduced to help minimise risk when in contact on the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trbojevic will also don a unique, state-of-the-art headgear<\/a>\u00a0that claims it can reduce concussion-related brain injuries, with an ongoing study backed by Connectivity Traumatic Brain Injury Australia<\/a> to determine its effectiveness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its material is woven in a way that allegedly will soften the blows to the head when in contact.<\/p>\n

When speaking with AAP, Trbojevic has said these changes are necessary, and he isn’t willing to give up on his career.<\/p>\n

“I’ve given myself the best chance to not have the same thing (happen),” Trbojevic told AAP.<\/p>\n

“We all know the repercussions if I have a few more (concussions), which is obviously not going to be great for me. The positive thing is, I can’t really give up, you know?<\/p>\n

“I want to keep going and I’ve given myself the best chance, which is something I’m proud of.<\/p>\n

“It all comes down to my feet and my tackle selection. I have probably been a bit silly in the past, for instance if you try and tackle Josh Papalii<\/a> you’ve got to be smarter about how you go about it, I was trying to impose myself on the game.”<\/p>\n

Trbojevic will start at lock for Manly’s blockbuster season opener against the reigning Minor Premiers, the Canberra Raiders<\/a>, where he will debut a look similar to Sea Eagles legend Steve Menzies<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If all goes well for ‘Jurbo’, he will cross 250 NRL<\/a> games in Round 10 against the Brisbane Broncos<\/a> at Brookvale, with every single match in the maroon and white.<\/p>\n

It will be an inspirational moment for the Sea Eagles and the wider Northern Beaches community, celebrating a tenacious workhorse who is the heart and soul of the peninsular.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Get set for the footy with the FREE Zero Tackle 2026 NRL Season Guide!<\/a> Packed with 130+ pages of player profiles, team previews, insights and analysis, the 2026 NRL Season Guide<\/a> is built for fans who want the full picture. Download your free Season Guide HERE.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manly’s heart and soul of the club, Jake Trbojevic, has undergone some major changes during the offseason in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519329,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-519328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519328"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/519328\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=519328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=519328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}