Eighteen years after being invited to trial with the Manly Sea Eagles in 2008, Daly Cherry-Evans will take on his former team for the first time in his illustrious career.
Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
Back then, Cherry-Evans was just another hopeful halfback who was looking to make his NRL debut. Few could have predicted that he would go on to become one of the game’s premier playmakers and an influential figure to the next generation of players wearing the No.7.
WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.
Over nearly two decades, the veteran has redefined consistency and set the benchmark for kicking, passing, and controlling the match in attack.
But beyond the technical side of his game, it’s his temperament that has come to define his legacy. That quality is what stands out most to those who have played alongside him.
Speaking to foxsports.com.au, Cherry-Evans’ former Queensland Maroons teammate Cooper Cronk pointed to his composure as the trait that defines him and will help the halfback when he faces his former team on Thursday.
“His temperament and demeanour,” Cronk said.
“I think if you are a 350-plus game player who spent however long he did at Manly and you’re returning back to your old home ground that you’ve spilled blood at over a long period of time, you better be unequivocal in your confidence and your ability to stay present or consistent.
“I think that’s going to be one thing that will probably be his greatest strength come Thursday night.
“Outside of the actual physical performance, it’s just his temperament and his cool head.
“He is pretty consistent in the way that he’s carried himself for a long time and I think that will do a lot of help for him on Thursday.”
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!
It has been a long road for DCE.Source: News Limited
‘UGLY’ END TO MANLY CAREER… AND HOW ROOSTERS MOVE CAME TO BE
As Cherry-Evans prepares to take on his former team later on tonight, the spotlight also turns back to how his switch from the Northern Beaches to the Tricolours first transpired – a transfer that sent shockwaves through the NRL at the time.
What started as a routine contract situation between Cherry-Evans’ management and Manly powerbrokers quickly escalated to one of the most talked-about player movements when he took to television to publicly state that he had yet to be offered a contract extension.
The most-capped player for the Sea Eagles, he then formally declined a two-year extension offer and decided to exit the team he won a premiership with in 2011 to link up with Trent Robinson at the Roosters.
It was a controversial decision at the time, and one that played out in the media for the majority of the season until Cherry-Evans eventually made his move to the Roosters official in November.
The way Cherry-Evans went about it, and specifically the decision to publicise his exit on television, rubbed some prominent people in the rugby league world the wrong way.
That included former Manly enforcer Mark Carroll, who even revealed that he had a run-in with Cherry-Evans during the season over his decision to leave the club.
“I truly believe Manly would be playing finals footy if not for his selfish decision to abandon ship and the way he went about it,” Carroll said at the time.
“How you can go on a footy show – with no club gear on – and blindside so many people with such a major career call is beyond me.
“If DCE’s got a problem with me, I can live with that.
“I don’t have any regrets – but I’m not sure he can say the same thing.”
While there were fears Cherry-Evans could be booed by his own fans amid the ongoing contract circus, the opposite ended up being true.
Cherry-Evans said he got quite “emotional” when he ran out at 4 Pines Park to resounding cheers in March last year, later telling reporters in a cryptic press conference that he had been the victim of a “smear campaign” that quickly became “a bit nasty and ugly”.
MORE NRL NEWS
TALKING PTS: Why alarm bells are ringing for Storm; ‘elephant in the room’ for Dogs
CRAWLEY: The link to a great … and why it could blow up in Seibold’s face
Seibold urges Manly fans not boo DCE | 02:51
Cherry-Evans had reportedly requested an immediate release from the Sea Eagles to return home to Queensland in the 2024 pre-season, only to have that request rejected by now former Manly boss Tony Mestrov.
Meanwhile, both Cherry-Evans and Mestrov confirmed that he then later informed the club in December of 2024 that he was considering leaving and ultimately, despite the best attempts from Manly, no resolution was reached between the two parties.
That included a last-ditch, revised offer from the club which was dramatically presented to Cherry-Evans live on air on NRL 360, which the then Manly halfback also knocked back on television when he told 100% Footy he was “at peace” with his decision.
That led the Cherry-Evans eventually linking up with the Roosters and announcing his move to the Tricolours in November, when he told reporters he was “satisfied” with his decision.
“Individually, very uncomfortable in being in another club’s colours, but deep down really satisfied with the decision,” Cherry-Evans said.
“I just know how much personal growth is going to be ahead of me this year. There’s a lot to be excited about.
“I’m no spring chicken, so I wanted to really make sure that if I was going to go around again and put myself really out of my comfort zone, I wanted to make sure I can hold my end of the bargain up.
“The longer it went, the more I got a chance to look and watch (the Roosters) and from there get more confidence. Not just in where I was going, but how I could help.
“I honestly couldn’t tell you it was one thing (that made me join the Roosters), it was a combination of things. I guess that probably reflects me, I’m pretty thought-out in how I go about things.”
Cherry-Evans celebrates the win in the NRL Grand Final. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)Source: AAP
WHY FORMER TEAMMATES DON’T WANT DCE BOOED
Announcing his departure in March last year, it has been just over 12 months to the day since Daly Cherry-Evans exit from the Sea Eagles, making tonight’s return to Brookvale Oval a highly anticipated clash.
For Cherry-Evans, Brookvale Oval isn’t just another stadium.
Across his 17-year career in the NRL, he has played 137 matches at the venue, which turned him from a rookie to a legend. But now he returns for the first time as a visitor.
“There’s obviously a level of excitement to it all. I wouldn’t say there’s a heap of negative emotions towards the game because that’s a place that held a special place in my heart for so long,” Cherry-Evans said in the lead-up to the clash against his former side.
“There’s still a lot of lifelong friends there at the club that I’m looking forward to going up against.
“I would say I’m excited for the challenge but more focused on what I need to do at the Roosters to help us find some form.
“I’m not going to know what it’s like to walk in there as an opposition player until Thursday night so there will be new emotions that come with walking into Brookvale as a Rooster but I’m really confident in not just myself but the people around me that it’s going to be a good night.”
Meanwhile, his former teammates are looking forward to the challenge of facing him.
“It’s always good to go up against a former teammate, especially Chez, who’s pretty much been my halfback my whole career,” ex- teammate Haumole Olakau’atu said.
“It’d be weird, definitely, but also exciting for us players and the club, too. Very excited to go up against him.”
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!
DCE not expecting hostile Manly return | 01:10
Of course, one of the bigger talking points ahead of Thursday’s game is whether the Sea Eagles faithful will boo Cherry-Evans.
It didn’t happen in the wake of reports last year that he was leaving the club for the Roosters, but now that the switch is official and he is no longer in Manly colours could it be different?
Luke Brooks said his former halves partner deserves the respect from the fans due to his long history at the club.
“I’m sure he’ll get a good reception here when he does come,” Brooks said.
“He’s a club great and the fans will respect him and love him for what he did for the club.
“Yeah, it would be weird for him, coming here and going in the away sheds and being in different colours.
“He’s a great player and someone who I watched and admired from afar then to play alongside him, it was a good couple years. I enjoyed it and definitely learned a fair bit from him.”
Daly Cherry-Evans. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
A SELFLESS ACT… AND WHY DCE’S STORY IS FAR FROM FINISHED
The legacy that Cherry-Evans has on the game of rugby league extends far beyond his own performances.
Throughout his career, he has become one of the best leaders in the NRL and has continually helped those around him.
Away from the field, his influence is equally profound.
He has been used as a template for coaches when showing emerging rookies how they should approach and prepare for a match, as well as what is expected of their professionalism when they enter first-grade.
“One thing I think you can always credit Daly Cherry-Evans for is he’s a team player and he does the best thing by the team that he plays with,” Cronk said.
“If that means him being the main man, then he’ll be the main man, but then if it was the Stewart brothers or Kieran Foran, he was able to complement the others around him.
“There’s no doubt that he’s been a very good captain, a very good team player and he was a very good club man for Manly for a long period of time.”
If you need further proof of that, you don’t have to look far. In fact, only earlier this week Cherry-Evans vowed to reporters that he would make way if the Roosters wanted to prioritise the development of younger players like Hugo Savala.
“I would say as long as the club’s not in a position where they’re holding any young kids back, that would be my priority right now in my career,” Cherry-Evans said.
“If the Roosters didn’t have space for me next year because of the potential of someone else, that is completely okay.
“But as you guys are probably aware, I’m a player that will continue to back myself to play at a higher level.”
Sam Walker and Daly Cherry-Evans. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
So much of the criticism and spotlight surrounding Cherry-Evans’ performances at the Roosters this year is centred around blocking the pathway for Savala, who impressed last year.
Toby Rodwell, the son of former Steelers and Rabbitohs centre Brett Rodwell, is also waiting in the wings.
But this is a Roosters team with premiership aspirations under coach Trent Robinson and it is part of the reason why they signed Cherry-Evans. He is supposed to put them over the top.
As Cronk said on the Kayo Sports NRL Podcast before the season even kicked off, the Roosters are “going to expect him to deliver”.
“I can speak from personal experience that the move from him, from Manly to the Roosters, is (to reach the) Grand Final, that’s the expectation,” Cronk added.
With that in mind, DCE’s legacy — and how he is remembered — will to some extent be based on whether or not he can steer the Roosters to a premiership.
Although if he was to step aside at the end of the year should it be clear Savala is the future, it would also say a lot about the quality of the man and the legacy he will leave behind.
“I think his time at the Roosters will be determined by what happens at the end of the year,” Cronk added.
“He made a decision for himself and his family to move across and everyone sort of said before the season that the Roosters are primed for a shot at the title.
“It’s three rounds, they will be a work in progress for the next four, six, eight weeks, but then after the halfway mark you probably want to see them set sail for what hopefully is a good September.”