Trbojevic makes call on 2026 amid "scary" concussion fears

Sea Eagles forward Jake Trbojevic has confirmed he will play on in 2026 despite a third concussion this season prompting retirement fears.

Manly have opted to rest Trbojevic for the remainder of the season after he was knocked out in Canberra a fortnight ago.

While the Sea Eagles lock has accepted he won't play again this season unless the Sea Eagles make finals, he has confirmed he will return next season amidst speculation of his latest concussion bringing on an early retirement.

"“I’m going to play next year, definitely,” Trbojevic told The Daily Telegraph.

“I’m feeling pretty good, I’ve come good. Obviously, like the first week or whatever, I was not the best, but I’m feeling good now.

“I feel fine, right. Obviously, it’s not ideal - it’s a bit scary. It’s a sensitive topic because no one knows, there’s no direct diagnosis right if that makes any sense.

“I guess you play this game, there’s lots of things that could go wrong,” Jake Trbojevic said.

“You sign a waiver knowing these sort of things could happen. But I guess you’re concerned about your career and that sort of thing, that it will come to an end like that.

“But I guess I’ve been pretty lucky. I’ve been able to play for a while for Manly and had a really enjoyable career with all my brothers.

“So, if it was come to an end, I would be sad, but I’ll be fine with it.”

Given his repeated concussions and his back-ended deal, SEN's Jimmy Smith questioned whether Trbojevic medically retiring would be best for both club and player.

Smith has discovered that when Jake and brother Tom's Manly deals were drawn up in 2018, both were heavily back-ended for 2026.

"He is unlikely to play again and it’s his third concussion this year," Smith said on SEN 1170.

"They’re talking about three or four months, an extended rest and precautionary neurological testing before they think about a return.

"The current deals total more than $12m when they both signed in 2018. Both were back-ended most heavily in 2026.

"I thought it was $2m next year $1.1 (million) for Tom and $900k for Jake.

"It says $2.4m for the back-ended deals.

"Who put together those deals? Ah Des Hasler.

"Here's the thing that hasn’t been discussed. At the end of 2026 or even before, is medically retired an option?

"Jake will rail against that I am sure but, that’s how quickly its changed. At the start of this year, he was the State of Origin winning skipper of NSW and now we’re at that this stage."

Manly responded to four straight losses with a strong 58-30 win over The Dolphins at 4 Pines Park yesterday in Daly Cherry-Evans' 350th game.