Dolphins or Roosters? DCE confirms contract talks as Turbo captains Manly
While Cherry-Evans spends the week north of the border, Trbojevic will lead the Sea Eagles into battle against Parramatta on Friday night.
Jake Arthur will wear Cherry-Evans' No.7 jersey – his first NRL game since the end of 2023 – while prop Matt Lodge and hooker Lachie Croker also play their first matches in the top grade this season.
Laurie Daley left Trbojevic out of the NSW side, and said on Monday he wanted Turbo to 'go back and play some good football and be confident'.
'I've got no doubt Tommy will be back in this arena at some point,' Daley said.
Coach Anthony Seibold said of Trbojevic on Tuesday: 'Every player wants to play Origin, and I feel like with Turbo, this is a great opportunity for him to build some confidence in his game.
'The thing that Turbo is very much a hard marker on himself is his attack. He made a couple of errors on the weekend [against the Cowboys], but the thing I said to him was he was putting himself in the picture.
'Defensively, two out of the last three games we've played, which we've won, against the Panthers and Cowboys, Tommy's defence, individually and his organisation of the defensive line, have been at an elite level.
'That's what he has built his game on. We're just finding ways to get his flow again.
'The way he finished last year, and his form for Australia, and even before he got injured, that game in round one against the Cowboys, that was one of the best games I've ever seen him play.
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'He's had an MCL, he's had corks, so it's been a stop-start season for him.
'We didn't count on having him here [during Origin]. But he'll captain. He's keen and ready to go.'
Jake Trbojevic will also be missing from the Eels clash due to a concussion, his second in a month, which could yet see him miss more than one week as a precaution.
The return of Lodge is a big plus. The front-rower was not eligible to play before round 11 because he was on a train-and-trial deal.
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The Advertiser
13 hours ago
- The Advertiser
'Special' Hughes performance headlines Cowboys thumping
Melbourne's Jahrome Hughes has stolen the spotlight from his North Queensland opposite Tom Dearden with the Storm halfback orchestrating a commanding 38-14 victory at AAMI Park. All eyes were on Dearden, who is favoured to usurp Daly Cherry-Evans as Queensland's State of Origin No.7 when teams for game two in Perth are announced. But reigning Dally M Medallist Hughes was the stand-out from both teams, scoring two tries and setting up two more as well as nine tackle-busts in one of his best performances of the season. Hughes embraced his running game to keep the Cowboys defence guessing, with Cameron Munster also up to the challenge as the superstar pair marked their 100th NRL game in the Storm halves. Hughes also pulled off a critical strip on Jeremiah Nanai close to the tryline to help his team win consecutive matches for the first time since round six. Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy, who this week signed to stay on in 2027, said Hughes had been battling a number of injuries including a broken hand and neck issues. "He has been playing pretty well, but that was a pretty special effort tonight, it was definitely his best performance this year," Bellamy said. "He's done remarkably well to have played as many games as he's played, with some of the injuries, they're just sort of worn him down a little bit mentally too, not being able to do the things that he's used to doing or is capable of doing. "So he's been really brave for us ... but it looked like he shook off a few of those injuries tonight." Melbourne started with a bang with tries to Eli Katoa and Hughes setting up a 12-0 after 18 minutes. A pin-point cut-out pass from Dearden to winger Jaxson Paulo put the visitors on the scoreboard two minutes later. Melbourne went off the boil and only desperate defence goal-line kept them ahead, with North Queensland dominating territory 68 per cent to 32. Despite that statistic, the Storm made them pay when they got a chance in the 39th minute when a Hughes bomb was dropped cold by fullback Scott Drinkwater. Hughes then collected the spoils in the next set, linking with the rest of the star Melbourne spine for an 18-4 halftime lead. Despite a massive spray by Cowboys coach Todd Payten, Nick Meaney crossed two minutes into the second half after the Melbourne centre ran onto a Hughes grubber. The talented Cowboys attack finally kicked into gear and after Drinkwater saved a third Hughes try he scored one of his own after a Reece Robson dart from dummy-half. Robert Derby was in two minutes later to close the margin to 10 points but Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona stalled the Cowboys' momentum when he dragged four defenders over the line. Payten said his team beat themselves. "It's just pure disappointment, we didn't make a good team earn anything," he said. "When you crack so easily on your tryline, and then just give them leg up after leg up with tackle four or five penalties, play one, two errors, so it probably should have been more, to be fair. "It's frustrating and burning inside ... I hate when we beat ourselves, and I felt like tonight we did exactly that." Melbourne's Jahrome Hughes has stolen the spotlight from his North Queensland opposite Tom Dearden with the Storm halfback orchestrating a commanding 38-14 victory at AAMI Park. All eyes were on Dearden, who is favoured to usurp Daly Cherry-Evans as Queensland's State of Origin No.7 when teams for game two in Perth are announced. But reigning Dally M Medallist Hughes was the stand-out from both teams, scoring two tries and setting up two more as well as nine tackle-busts in one of his best performances of the season. Hughes embraced his running game to keep the Cowboys defence guessing, with Cameron Munster also up to the challenge as the superstar pair marked their 100th NRL game in the Storm halves. Hughes also pulled off a critical strip on Jeremiah Nanai close to the tryline to help his team win consecutive matches for the first time since round six. Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy, who this week signed to stay on in 2027, said Hughes had been battling a number of injuries including a broken hand and neck issues. "He has been playing pretty well, but that was a pretty special effort tonight, it was definitely his best performance this year," Bellamy said. "He's done remarkably well to have played as many games as he's played, with some of the injuries, they're just sort of worn him down a little bit mentally too, not being able to do the things that he's used to doing or is capable of doing. "So he's been really brave for us ... but it looked like he shook off a few of those injuries tonight." Melbourne started with a bang with tries to Eli Katoa and Hughes setting up a 12-0 after 18 minutes. A pin-point cut-out pass from Dearden to winger Jaxson Paulo put the visitors on the scoreboard two minutes later. Melbourne went off the boil and only desperate defence goal-line kept them ahead, with North Queensland dominating territory 68 per cent to 32. Despite that statistic, the Storm made them pay when they got a chance in the 39th minute when a Hughes bomb was dropped cold by fullback Scott Drinkwater. Hughes then collected the spoils in the next set, linking with the rest of the star Melbourne spine for an 18-4 halftime lead. Despite a massive spray by Cowboys coach Todd Payten, Nick Meaney crossed two minutes into the second half after the Melbourne centre ran onto a Hughes grubber. The talented Cowboys attack finally kicked into gear and after Drinkwater saved a third Hughes try he scored one of his own after a Reece Robson dart from dummy-half. Robert Derby was in two minutes later to close the margin to 10 points but Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona stalled the Cowboys' momentum when he dragged four defenders over the line. Payten said his team beat themselves. "It's just pure disappointment, we didn't make a good team earn anything," he said. "When you crack so easily on your tryline, and then just give them leg up after leg up with tackle four or five penalties, play one, two errors, so it probably should have been more, to be fair. "It's frustrating and burning inside ... I hate when we beat ourselves, and I felt like tonight we did exactly that." Melbourne's Jahrome Hughes has stolen the spotlight from his North Queensland opposite Tom Dearden with the Storm halfback orchestrating a commanding 38-14 victory at AAMI Park. All eyes were on Dearden, who is favoured to usurp Daly Cherry-Evans as Queensland's State of Origin No.7 when teams for game two in Perth are announced. But reigning Dally M Medallist Hughes was the stand-out from both teams, scoring two tries and setting up two more as well as nine tackle-busts in one of his best performances of the season. Hughes embraced his running game to keep the Cowboys defence guessing, with Cameron Munster also up to the challenge as the superstar pair marked their 100th NRL game in the Storm halves. Hughes also pulled off a critical strip on Jeremiah Nanai close to the tryline to help his team win consecutive matches for the first time since round six. Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy, who this week signed to stay on in 2027, said Hughes had been battling a number of injuries including a broken hand and neck issues. "He has been playing pretty well, but that was a pretty special effort tonight, it was definitely his best performance this year," Bellamy said. "He's done remarkably well to have played as many games as he's played, with some of the injuries, they're just sort of worn him down a little bit mentally too, not being able to do the things that he's used to doing or is capable of doing. "So he's been really brave for us ... but it looked like he shook off a few of those injuries tonight." Melbourne started with a bang with tries to Eli Katoa and Hughes setting up a 12-0 after 18 minutes. A pin-point cut-out pass from Dearden to winger Jaxson Paulo put the visitors on the scoreboard two minutes later. Melbourne went off the boil and only desperate defence goal-line kept them ahead, with North Queensland dominating territory 68 per cent to 32. Despite that statistic, the Storm made them pay when they got a chance in the 39th minute when a Hughes bomb was dropped cold by fullback Scott Drinkwater. Hughes then collected the spoils in the next set, linking with the rest of the star Melbourne spine for an 18-4 halftime lead. Despite a massive spray by Cowboys coach Todd Payten, Nick Meaney crossed two minutes into the second half after the Melbourne centre ran onto a Hughes grubber. The talented Cowboys attack finally kicked into gear and after Drinkwater saved a third Hughes try he scored one of his own after a Reece Robson dart from dummy-half. Robert Derby was in two minutes later to close the margin to 10 points but Storm prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona stalled the Cowboys' momentum when he dragged four defenders over the line. Payten said his team beat themselves. "It's just pure disappointment, we didn't make a good team earn anything," he said. "When you crack so easily on your tryline, and then just give them leg up after leg up with tackle four or five penalties, play one, two errors, so it probably should have been more, to be fair. "It's frustrating and burning inside ... I hate when we beat ourselves, and I felt like tonight we did exactly that."
News.com.au
15 hours ago
- News.com.au
Todd Payten unleashes mammoth half-time spray only for it to backfire badly
Cowboys coach Todd Payten unleashed an all-time spray on his troops after a dismal first half against the Storm on Thursday night. The coach reportedly named and shamed several of his stars, pointing out issues in their game and lapses of judgement as they went into the break down 18-4 against the storm. But it was the stats that told the story, North Queensland made 7 errors and missed a whopping 27 tackles despite having most of the possession. FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer. And so Payten decided to try and light a fire under his side going into the second half. But his hopes of a different outcome in the second period went up in smoke within 2 minutes. Inside 50 seconds, Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater dropped the ball in their first set of the half. And the very next set Melbourne crossed for their fourth try. After extending the lead to 20-points Fox Sports' Eloise Sohier revealed Payten gave reportedly the worst spray the Cowboys' bench had ever seen. 'The bench told me that they have never seen a spray as bad as he (Payten) delivered at half time,' Sohier told Fox Sports. 'He picked out players, he tore apart their game. He won't be happy with that start.' You can watch footage of the NRL coach's spray in the player above. In the end, the Cowboys were thoroughly beaten 38-14 by the Storm, who were far from their best themselves. And the NRL world empathised with the 46-year-old coach after a difficult evening. 'Todd Payten has every right to feed it to those Cowboys. A couple of those tries were very soft,' one fan wrote on X. 'Fox: 'Todd Payten gave them the Biggest spray they've ever seen', Cowboy Players: 'I didn't hear anything,' another joked. 'Obviously the spray Payten gave them at half time didn't work. Once again they were their own worst enemy,' a third added. After the game, Payten was still seething at what transpired, as he spoke freely about his disappointment in his players' performance. 'Pure disappointment,' Payten said in response to a question about what he made of the game. 'Didn't make a good team (Storm) earn anything and in the end when you crack so easily on your try line and give leg up after leg up … it probably should have been more.' Jahrome Hughes shines in Storm win Star halfback Jahrome Hughes was back to his Dally M winning form as the Storm proved too good for the Cowboys. Hughes and five-eighth Cameron Munster were playing for a 100th time together as a halves combination and they got the better of rising North Queensland duo Tom Dearden and Jaxon Purdue in an intriguing battle. It was the 77th time the Storm has won with a Hughes-Munster halves combo, an impressive 77 per cent. The Storm made it back-to-back wins for the first time since early April. Hughes had his fingerprints all over the victory. The 30-year-old scored two tries to go with two try assists and produced a tidy kicking game with 386 kick metres. Munster was a handful too, making 17 runs for a punishing 181 run metres. 'They are mesmerised by Hughes. Just dancing and weaving his way with ease,' Michael Ennis said.
News.com.au
15 hours ago
- News.com.au
Payten backs Dearden as QLD�s next No.7
NRL: North Queensland Cowboys coach Todd Payten spoke to the media following their round 14 defeat to the Melbourne Storm.
