After the Manly Sea Eagles defeated the Canberra Raiders last Saturday night, there was little to celebrate when fullback, and reigning Dally M Player of the Year, Tom Trbojevic was spotted in a knee brace.
Manly fan's worst nightmares were realised when scans revealed the extent of his knee complaint - a medial tear in his knee that would sideline him for at least the next month.
A reoccurring chapter in the Sea Eagles' regular season, Trobjevic's injuries typically present a bump in the road for the North Shore side. However, Manly winger Reuben Garrick refuses to let this happen while he's filling in for the all-world playmaker.
Garrick played admirably filling in for the injured Trobjevic as the Sea Eagles ousted the Newcastle Knights on Friday night.
The 24-year-old ran for over 150 metres and broke 4 tackles on his sides way to a 30-6 victory.
Fullback
Tackle Breaks
All Run Metres
Tackles Made
The point-scoring machine, who set the new record for most points in a season by a player last year, was calm and collected under one of the biggest boots in the competition - Newcastle's Jake Clifford - and in some of the toughest conditions the teams have played in this year.
"During the week there was a lot of talk about what the weather was going to be like. And Jake Clifford must have one of the biggest boots in the comp because he put up some pearlers," Garrick told Australian Associated Press.
"Honestly, for some of them I did cross my fingers. You've just got to take into account the ball is going to be slippery and there was a bit of wind there. All the hours you put in playing and training comes to the fore.
"I grew up playing fullback in juniors and I've always been out the back catching bombs. But it's good to play it and get a decent crack at the back there, especially with Tom out.
"I am just trying to play a gutsy style of footy of just making the metres and putting our team in the best position to get down the other end of the field.
"On a night like tonight, you just try to play for field position and stay as error-free as you can."
Garrick, who has played seven NRL games at the fullback position over his first four seasons with the Sea Eagles, is expected to dawn the number one jersey until the return of youngster Tolutau Koula, who was the projected replacement for Trobjevic before he himself was ruled out.
