Calls are growing for Daly Cherry-Evans to stand down from the Manly captaincy amid a horror form slump for the halfback and his team since his contract saga emerged.
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Last month Cherry-Evans informed the club he won’t be at Manly next season and the Storm have lost three games in a row to the Storm 48-24, the Sharks 24-18 and the Dragons 20-18 since his decision.
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Manly have slumped from the top four to 11th on the ladder and Anthony Seibold has put the form slump down to a tough draw over the last month.
However, Phil Rothfield rubbished those suggestions and called for Cherry-Evans to stand aside for one of the Trbojevic brothers to take over.
“I wrote a story this morning suggesting that Anthony Seibold, who’s furious about the Sea Eagles draw and having three games in 11 days, I said, that’s a cop-out,” Rothfield said on NRL 360.
“They’ve actually got five of their first seven games at home and clubs have got much tougher draws than they have.
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“What I’ve said is, I think Daly Cherry Evans should stand down as the captain of that club.
“Since the story broke, last three games, he’s had one try assist. I think you can see in body language on the field when tries are scored and Manly behind the posts, they’re not rallying for DCE.
“He doesn’t want to be there. He’s given the players no explanation of why or where he’s even going, so it’s different to a lot of other players.
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“And I think the Trbojevic brothers, who would die for that jersey, would be a far better appointment as club captain at this stage. They’ve got to bite the bullet.”
However, Braith Anasta questioned if a change of captaincy would only add fuel to the fire of Manly’s imploding season.
“You think they need a change in captaincy?” Anasta asked.
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“That’s going to unsettle them even more.”
Rothfield though argued Cherry-Evans has lost the dressing room as a captain and change is needed to save Manly’s season.
“It would not unsettle them one little bit because I think there’s some players there who are not backing a captain who does not want to be there with them,” Rothfield said.
The Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read agreed Cherry-Evans’ form has gone south ever since he made the decision and Manly can’t ignore that fact it is weighing on him.
“I don’t disagree, but I think he’s really struggling with his form,” Read said.
“And I think that’s been a real problem for Manly. He’s just not playing well ever since he made that decision.”
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