A defiant Tom Trbojevic has insisted there are no concerns over his fitness after he required a pain-killing needle for back spasms in Manly's loss to Penrith.
Beaten 44-12 on the scoreboard, Manly's night was made worse by Trbojevic appearing to battle an injury to his lower back throughout the loss.
The Sea Eagles superstar confirmed afterwards he began to suffer spasms in the warm up, before battling through the match with a needle and strapping at halftime.
But he was adamant there were no fresh worries about his health, after being dogged by injuries in recent seasons.
"My back tightened up, it was a bit of a spasm. But it's all good," Trbojevic said.
The fullback said he had not suffered backs spasms before, but maintained the pain did not limit him on the field as he had minimal impact before a late try from a kick.
"I was a bit confused. But it's alright. There is nothing to worry about," Trbojevic said.
"A lot of people play through a lot of things in the game. It's not the reason I didn't play well today or we didn't perform very well.
"So I don't think we need to talk about it too much."
Trbojevic's pain came on a horror night for the Sea Eagles, who had only 27 per cent of the ball in the first half and trailed 32-0 at the break.
Manly also lost Reuben Garrick to concussion and Karl Lawton to a dislocated shoulder. Neither will face Melbourne on Friday night.
After winning their first two matches, the Sea Eagles have managed only a draw and two losses in their past three.
Regardless, coach Anthony Seibold said he was not tempted to bring Trbojevic from the field in order to protect the superstar fullback.
Trbojevic is doubtless the most important player in the competition to any team, with Manly's winning record without him at 34 per cent since the start of 2021.
"We wanted to fight hard," Seibold said on why he kept Trbojevic on.
"The medical staff didn't see any real issue. If he was in danger of hurting himself we certainly would have looked after him.
"He was able to play through the game. He is disappointed with his individual performance tonight, but he wasn't on his own."
