Trbojevic welcomed into NSW Bash Bros fold

Jake Trbojevic has been anointed the third member of NSW’s bash brothers after Aaron Woods and David Klemmer took the Manly tackling machine under their wings ahead of his State of Origin debut.

Woods and Klemmer have been NSW’s enforcers for several years and the Blues’ pack now has an even harder edge after Trbojevic was handed his first interstate cap in Origin I at Suncorp Stadium.

The 23-year-old has capped his meteoric rise by displacing incumbent Australian forward Trent Merrin for a spot on Laurie Daley’s bench.

Following his Kangaroos debut in the Anzac Test earlier this month, Trbojevic said Woods and Klemmer had gone to great lengths to make him feel a part of their tight-knit clique.

Klemmer has been a fan of Trbojevic dating back to their time playing junior representative football, having been teammates in the NSW under 18s and Australian Schoolboys teams in 2011 and NSW under 20s in 2013.

“I’ve known Jakey for quite a while, we played junior rep footy together and he’s just a quality player,’ Klemmer said.

“He’s a quality player and he deserves it, he’s made for for this arena, you just need to look at the sort of player he is week in and week out at Manly. I love watching him play and calling him a mate.”

Trbojevic has come along in leaps and bounds since his debut in 2013 and last year acted as stand-in skipper for Manly while Jamie Lyon was out injured.

He has been earmarked for bigger and better things and was last year included in Mal Meninga’s Prime Ministers’ XIII team, a squad which he intends to use as a breeding ground for the Kangaroo’s generation next.

He was then taken on the Four Nations tour after Josh Papalii has forced to withdraw because of an ankle injury.

Despite only being a regular first grader for the previous two seasons, he’s already earned himself a reputation as one of the game’s most feared defenders and Klemmer said he was looking forward to watching him cut a few Queenslanders in half next Wednesday.

“He loves the ‘D’ (defence) and he chops blokes, he gets underneath them,” Klemmer said.

“You try to avoid him at training because he hurts you.”

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!