'He's our fullback': Turbo charged and ready for Round 1

Manly star Tom Trbojevic has shut down talk of a move to the centres to start this season and declared he’s fit and firing for Round 1.

Like many of Manly’s stars, Trbojevic did not take part in the club’s Pre-Season Challenge campaign, but said he was in no doubt of lining up at fullback for the opening round encounter with the Cowboys.

“I’ll be playing at one,” Trbojevic said.

“The body's good, obviously come back this year; I got a good break over November, December and just trying to hit the ground running.

“I feel really good, we're (11, 12) days away now (from Round 1) … it's exciting. It's a really exciting time to be a rugby league player and we can't wait to get out there.

“I'm quite happy to go in without a trial.

“I feel like I get a lot out of training here, we train pretty intense and I was happy to go without a trial.

“I think my best position is fullback and I feel like the way I finished last year showed that.

“I got a lot of confidence about the way I finished last year and it give me a lot of excitement going into this year to try and continue that.”

Coach Anthony Seibold confirmed his intentions to have his talismanic performer stay in his preferred role.

“He's a really integral player in our group, not just as a player, as a leader, and I think Turbo's at that stage of his career where he's got real influence in our group,” Seibold said.

“To answer your question where he'll play, he'll play fullback, he's our fullback, he's an elite fullback.

“If he's not the best, he is certainly in the top two fullbacks in my opinion in the competition and I think everyone can see what he brings to our group when he plays, so really pleased with his preparation.

“It was great to see him in the Australia jersey at the end of last year, I thought him and Tom Dearden were probably the two best performers for Australia, so I was really pleased for Tom personally, and he brings back great confidence from that experience.”

Overall, the Sea Eagles have undergone a more settled preparation to start their season this year, after being one of the first four teams to launch the NRL season in Las Vegas last year.

As coach, Seibold made the active choice this season not to play some of his bigger stars during the prior to their opening round match at home at 4 Pines Park.