Stewart, Trbojevic hurt in Manly NRL trial

Manly have a nervous wait on their hands with backline stars Brett Stewart and Tom Trbojevic suffering worrying injuries in the Sea Eagles’ 58-0 thrashing of Ipswich in on Saturday night’s NRL trial.

The already injury-hit squad copped another blow with Stewart (hamstring) and Trbojevic (ankle) coming from the field early in their demolition of the Queensland Cup champions at Sydney’s Pittwater Park.

New coach Trent Barrett said it was not known if both would be fit for their NRL season opener against Canterbury on March 4 and would have to wait for test results.

Stewart came from the field in the second half with a tight hamstring, while Trbojevic was given an early shower in the first 40 after suffering an apparent recurrence of an ankle problem.

Asked if the pair would be right for round one in a fortnight, Barrett said: “I’m not sure, to be honest.

“They’ll get looked at tomorrow and, luckily for us, we have the week off next week.”

The loss of the pair would leave the side without their best two fullback options and leave them scrambling for a No.1.

The Sea Eagles copped a horrible injury toll at the Auckland Nines with Jamie Buhrer expected to miss the first six weeks of the season with a broken jaw and hooker Jayden Hodges out for the year with an ACL injury.

The side are expected to welcome back hookers Apisai Koroisau and Matt Parcell as well as back-rowers Feleti Mateo and Lewis Brown for round one.

The Eagles ran rampant over the Jets with star recruits Dylan Walker and Martin Taupau starring in the 10-tries-to-nil rout.

Walker and halves partner Daly-Cherry Evans ran on both sides of the field and combined fluently in signs that boded well for coach Barrett following his makeover of the club roster.

Walker looked comfortable playing at five-eighth, after shifting from the centres following his departure from South Sydney, and sliced through to score a deserved 59th-minute try.

“Dylan showed some real touches of class, he’s an explosive player and the more footy they play together, the better they’re going to be,” Barrett said of his halves.

Taupau received a round of applause when he came from the field for a spell in the first half after making a number of bone-jarring charges which dented the Jets’ defensive line.

He also produced a brilliant offload which set up the first of Jorge Taufua’s two first-half tries.

Fellow new signing Nate Myles scored with his first touch of the ball in a Sea Eagles jumper as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead in just the second minute.

A steady avalanche of tries followed with the scoreline opening up to 40-0 after Brenton Lawrence crossed on halftime.

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