Renowned fullback Tom Trbojevic has silenced the critics in the best way possible about his shift to the wing for the Kangaroos with hat-tricks in consecutive games against Fiji and Cook Islands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His seven tries in three games on the right edge have played no small part in getting Australia to Sunday\u2019s World Cup semi-finals, where they face Samoa at Allianz Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Commentary around Trbojevic being a far better fullback than he is a winger has not fazed him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many have forgotten Turbo’s first Test for Australia was on the wing against France in the 2017 World Cup.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His NRL debut season for the Manly Sea Eagles (2015) was spent entirely on the wing before he switched to No.1 midway through 2016.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So in light of his recent points-grab for Australia, is Trbojevic a better winger than he is a fullback?<\/p>\n
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Australian Kangaroos v Cook Islands Aitu – Round 3, 2026<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I wouldn\u2019t go that far… look opinions are opinions,\u201d he told NRL.com.\u00a0
\u201cI\u2019ve always said that fullback feels the most natural to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut to come into rep teams you are happy just to play anywhere they need you. Given my body type and what I\u2019ve done in the past, I can adapt to a few positions.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Trboejvic has played six of his 10 Tests so far at centre, and seven of his 10 Origins at centre \u2013 the other games for both teams have been on the wing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So for the Blues or Kangaroos, the 2021 Dally M Medalist and Fullback of the Year has never played No.1.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old has also never played with Kotoni Staggs before until named in the 2026 World Cup squad.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Tom Trbojevic 3rd Try<\/p>\n
The pair are forming a tight combination on Australia\u2019s right edge, where they will take on Samoa\u2019s Izack Tago and Sua Fa\u2019alogo on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does take a little time for us to be exposed to certain situations again and being able to solve those,\u201d Trbojevic said of the partnership with Staggs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s being able to adapt to each other and work hard at training together.<\/p>\n
\u201cKotoni is a very powerful and aggressive player. It\u2019s great having him right alongside me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOff the field he\u2019s very easy going, loves a laugh. He\u2019s a great fella and even better to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Tonga v Toa Samoa – Round 3, 2026<\/p>\n
Staggs admitted the pair had needed to find their groove.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTommy is obviously not in his first-choice position on the wing but we\u2019ve had three games together now and each time we\u2019ve got better,\u201d Staggs said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel the game against Cook Islands was our best defensive game together and that\u2019s all we were worried about.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know we\u2019ve got a lot to offer in attack but playing alongside him, having Tommy\u2019s experience around me, helps my game too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
All matches will be broadcast live and exclusive in Australia on Seven and 7plus, on Sky Sport in New Zealand and Digicel in Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Renowned fullback Tom Trbojevic has silenced the critics in the best way possible about his shift to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":951488,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-951487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951487","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=951487"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951487\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/951488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}