The Sea Eagles were battered in a 48-24 loss to the Storm on Sunday, exposing a big “problem” with players reportedly “upset” in the wake of Daly Cherry-Evans’ contract saga.
The veteran halfback stunned the NRL world in March 24, announcing the 2025 season would be his last as Manly, with a move to a rival club looming.
Then following cheers from the Sea Eagles’ faithful in Round 4, Cherry-Evans claimed an orchestrated “smear campaign” against him was taking place, highlighting issues within the club.
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The veteran’s contract debacle has been front and centre in the headlines leading up to the latest ‘battle of Brookvale’ which proved to be a one-sided affair.
Speaking on the Big Sports Breakfast on Monday morning, veteran rugby league reporter explained Cherry-Evans’ decision and the aftermath was hampering the Sea Eagles.
He was of the belief several players were disgruntled by the way in which it played out, pointing out the commitment of both Tom and Jake Trbojevic to the Manly club.
“I believe the problem with a week long blow up like that, when you get flogged and concede 48 points, that is so unusual at the fortress that Brookvale Oval,” Rothfield said.
“You start looking in various areas as to why and I still think there are players at that club a little bit upset how this all played out.
Storm tear through Manly at Brookvale | 01:23
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“Jake Trbojevic is already on record saying that he would never do what DCE did.
“I point out today that the jersey, the logo and the club meant so much to Tom Trbojevic that he offered to hand back $400,000 of his contract last year because he’d been injured for so long.”
Rothfield also highlighted Cherry-Evans was yet to explain why he wanted to leave Brookvale, while other high-profile player departures had a clear motive behind them.
“Look, the difference between the Cherry-Evans departure, and there will be a lot of players early in the year, or mid-year, they are going to go,” Rothfield said.
“Dylan Brown had $13 million reasons to go to his teammates and say ‘I’m off’ and they understand that.
“James Fisher-Harris at Penrith last year, he wanted to get home on compassionate grounds to be with his family, he’d given Penrith such great (performances).
“His teammates understood the reasoning behind it. With DCE, what he hasn’t explained to his teammates, to his club… is why he doesn’t want to be at this club anymore.
“He hasn’t said ‘I’m signing with the Roosters, I’m signing with the Dolphins, I’m going to rugby’. There’s just been no explanation apart from the fact he doesn’t want to be there.
“We all know there’s a problem with management, and I just think that can have a tip on effect with player morale, I thought they were dispirited yesterday.”
Speaking following his side’s loss, Anthony Seibold refused to admit that Cherry-Evans’ contract saga did have a negative impact on their performance.
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“I’ll answer, we’ve had two really good preparations,” Seibold said.
“I thought we played really well against Parramatta last week. You saw what they did to the Dragons yesterday, who beat the Storm the week before.
“It’s a really tough competition, but I felt as though we had a really good preparation. We trained really well on Thursday, but sometimes you’re outplayed.
“Sometimes teams are better on the day than you are and that’s what I felt like today.”
Cherry-Evans himself didn’t answer questions along those lines, instead replying: “I think Siebs summed it up pretty well, mate”.
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