High profile Roosters recruit Daly Cherry-Evans insists he doesn’t mind if he has the six or seven on his back next season, while skipper James Tedesco hopes the former Manly star’s arrival doesn’t force local junior Hugo Savala out of the club.
Savala was one of the finds of the season and helped turned the Roosters’ season around with Sam Walker in the halves, but his future beyond 2026 remains a mystery.
The 21-gamer is off contract and could attract big offers from rival clubs, especially if Cherry-Evans decides to play on for another season.
“I’ve tried to introduce myself to most of the group over the last fortnight and it’s been great to have a small conversation with Hugo,” Cherry-Evans said.
“He was extremely welcoming, excited about our relationship, working alongside each other together and he was looking forward to learning some stuff off myself.
“I made it clear I’m here to learn off everyone and he’s someone I want to learn off too.
“Anytime you think you know it all in rugby league, you’re not going to last much longer. I’m really open minded about how much I’m going to learn from this playing group.
“Obviously I’d love to be able to help young players in their development along the way, and it’ll work both ways.
“As for where his role is and where he fits into the game plans and all that, I don’t have the answer for you right now, that’s more of a coach question and considering we haven’t been back to training yet, it hasn’t even looked like taking shape.
“Based on the way he played this year, it’s really hard not to see him playing a role in first grade next year.”
Recently retired halfback Chad Townsend urged the Roosters to find room for Savala in the 17, with the towering playmaker a potential option at lock or as a utility off the bench.
“I love Hugo and his attitude,” Tedesco said.
“Even last year in pre-season, no one expected much of him but he worked as hard as he could and he actually trained in a lot of different positions but ended up getting his start in the halves through hard work and persistence.
“I don’t think anything will change with that and his mindset. He wants to stay at the club. He’s a local junior and he exceeded a lot of expectations last year with how he played.
“It’s a great opportunity for him to learn off one of the great halves in our game.”
The other major question mark is who plays halfback and five-eighth next year, with Townsend also calling for Walker to wear the No.7 jersey.
Cherry-Evans played all 352 games at halfback for Manly, but Walker is the long-term chief playmaker at the Roosters.
“We’ve had a couple of conversations with Trent (coach Trent Robinson) and Sam, but I’m not too fussed,” Cherry-Evans said.
“I feel like we’re really lucky in the players that Sam and I are that one of us could wear six and one of us could wear seven and wouldn’t affect a whole lot.
“I think before we get to the seven-six part, we probably have to figure out how we want to play. It’s really important that we complement each other and we complement the team.
“I don’t have an announcement on that yet, and I don’t even know if that’s big news, but I don’t think it’s going to change a lot.
“Visually it might be a big deal if I’m not wearing the seven, but I’d be very fine with wearing the six if that’s what the team needs me to do.”
Originally published as ‘I’d be very fine with wearing the six’: DCE considers positional switch as Roosters address Hugo Savala’s future