Daly Cherry-Evans contract negotiations do not come up often but when they do, drama usually ensues. A decade ago it was the talented young halfback who was arguably the villain when he backflipped on a four-year contract with the Gold Coast Titans to remain at Manly on a 10-year deal. This time around it is the club, not player, that has been rightly cast as the bad guy.
On Monday evening, the Sea Eagles skipper announced that he would not play with Manly in 2026 and beyond. He did not know whether he would retire, sign with another Sydney club or return to Queensland and potentially reunite with his junior club the Dolphins.
He was definitive in just one thing: he would not play for Manly, a club for whom he has played a record 333 games and counting. He has won a premiership and a Clive Churchill medal in the maroon and white while he has played 25 Origins and eight Tests from the club.
Such is his legend at Brookvale, Cherry-Evans sits comfortably alongside the likes of Bob Fulton, Graham Eadie, Cliff Lyons, Steve Menzies, Roy Bull and John O’Neill as the club’s greatest and most decorated players.
There is an old maxim in roster management that it is easier to retain than recruit. When you have one of the best halfbacks in the game – and one of the best handful of No 7s of the NRL era – you love the one you’re with.
Both Cherry-Evans and Manly have said there is no animosity between them and CEO Tony Mestrov has been at pains to claim the club did not lowball the player when salaries were discussed in the possibility he wanted to play on. But Mestrov also stated a formal extension was not offered, despite Cherry-Evans’ contract being well known.
Mestrov and Manly have made a hash of the situation and it is going to cost them one of the best No 7s around. Even the club itself seems to know it, given their panicked call on Monday night to Fox Sports show NRL 360 to publicly announce that they would, after all, offer Cherry-Evans a two-year deal. It was unprecedented, and it was messy.
There have been a lot of comparisons between how Manly have handled this situation and South Sydney’s handling of Adam Reynolds. The comparisons are foolish and highly unfair on the Rabbitohs, while being overly kind to Manly’s handling of their affairs. Souths were steadfast on the length of the deal they would offer Reynolds, believing his body would not hold up. Cherry-Evans, by contrast, has been one of the most durable players in the game, still healthy and fit with no concerns of a body breakdown.
Manly have not been as steadfast in their approach. Discussions had centred on a one-year extension but the club showed no signs of going beyond that until their public offer of a near-$14m deal during the NRL 360 live broadcast.
Typically when a club great walks out on a team, it is for money and the player’s legacy is tarnished. That is not the case with Cherry-Evans. If anything, he will enhance his legacy. He can walk into Canterbury or the Sydney Roosters and instantly make them premiership contenders. He can make a sentimental return to the Dolphins, taking his junior club to their inaugural finals campaign. He can mend some bridges while simultaneously reuniting with his old coach Des Hasler in a return to the Titans. He can walk off into the sunset and retire at the end of the season.
Wherever he lands – and he could play on for another three or four years given his fitness – his legacy will not be harmed.
Good halfbacks are in short supply and great halfbacks are rarer than golden tickets in Willy Wonka chocolate bars. Great halfbacks are needed to win premierships. Daly Cherry-Evans is a great halfback and Manly’s premiership window is just opening. The Sea Eagles’ inability to keep a club great still playing at an elite level in the hardest position to playcould haunt them for a long, long time.
