Jake Trbojevic knows a thing or two about torn pec muscles.
He did one a few years back and was out for three months.
So, it’s no surprise he is not talking up young brother Tom’s chances of a miracle return from the same injury.
The Sea Eagles fullback is due to visit a specialist on Monday afternoon to establish the full extent of his pec injury and whether there is any chance of avoiding surgery and playing again this year.
“When I did that a few years ago it was surgery and three months (recovery),” Jake said on Monday morning.
“When I did it, definitely no (playing on). I had surgery straight away but the specialist may be able to strengthen the muscles around it and get him (Tom) out there.
“He will exhaust all possibilities to possibly get him out there, but it would be a long shot you’d think.”
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Tom has been working on the injury non-stop since tearing the pec attempting to stop a try in Manly’s big loss to Melbourne on Saturday night.
Jake is seeing the rehab work first-hand, the brothers still living together in the family home on the northern beaches.
But the mere fact the Manly lock drifts into past tense when discussing Tom’s injury is a fair indication we’ve seen the last of the brilliant No.1 for 2019.
Jake said: “It’s obviously disappointing to lose him at this stage.
“Hopefully there are plenty more opportunities to play finals footy because as a club we haven’t played too much finals footy lately.
“He was really excited for that.
“To be a part of that was exciting and to have that taken away is pretty frustrating.”
Manly will finish the regular season in fifth or sixth depending on their last round result against Parramatta.
Their record minus Tommy Turbo does not make for comfortable reading, the Sea Eagles winning around a third of their games without him across the past two seasons.
“When he’s been on the field he’s been outstanding for us, but he can’t seem to string many games together,” Jake said.
“It’s been a frustrating year for him.”