It has been revealed that Sea Eagles skipper Daly Cherry-Evans asked for a release 12 months ago and that his current saga is “all about money”.
Cherry-Evans, 36, dropped a bombshell on Monday night when he declared on live TV that he’ll be leaving the club at the end of this season.
The announcement appeared to come out of nowhere and stunned the rugby league world, but now it’s been revealed it was more than a year in the making.
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“Daly definitely went to the Sea Eagles in the off-season of 2024 and actually asked for a release then, it was a tick over 12 months ago,” James Hooper said on NRL 360.
“I believe he only put that request forward once but rival clubs were aware of it and now that this has all blown up the way it is, it’s become a discussion point.
“Manly obviously rejected it because he played there last season but it does feel like, now that we know that, this hasn’t been a snap decision. This has been ongoing.”
Hooper believes Cherry-Evans’ decision comes down to cash and that Newcastle’s recent $13 million signing of Dylan Brown proved a turning point.
“When you peel it all back and cut through the BS, I think it’s all about money,” Hooper said.
“And I don’t have a beef with that, I don’t begrudge players earning as much as they possibly can in the short career window they have.
“But if you really want to cut through the red tape and the BS that has been spun, I think the reality is Manly could only afford to offer DCE around $700,000 a season.
“On the open market, you look at Dylan Brown getting $1.3 million, I think that has turned his head and even prior to that he’s thought you know what, I can go somewhere else and get a lot more.”
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Fellow journalist Michael Carayannis said he could see why Cherry-Evans was frustrated with the club he’s played for since 2011.
“The thing that Manly should have done differently is put a formal offer on the table a month or two ago, only for 12 months, just to put the ball back in Daly’s favour and see what he wanted to do,” he said.
“The fact they didn’t give him a formal offer until this week, I can understand why he’s a bit aggrieved by that.”
Braith Anasta believes offers did come through but Cherry-Evans chose not to tell Manly about them.
“They were waiting to see if any clubs had put a formal offer to him and with all due respect I think he hasn’t told them,” Anasta said.
“Like, he probably has had formal offers, he just hasn’t gone back to Manly because his decision was already made.”
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Hooper emphasised where there is smoke there is fire.
“Well clearly if he’s gone to the club a tick over 12 months ago and asked for that release… you don’t ask for a release unless you’ve got somewhere else to go,” he said.
“So at that point in time, there had to have been another club who were going to be at the table with a significant amount of money.
“Daly is a sharp character, he’s been around the game 15 seasons, he understands the business side of it and he understands his own market value.
“I think he’s looked at what other players in key positions were earning and thought ‘you know what, for everything I’ve put into this game…’ as much as he owes manly, I think he feels as though (he should make bank).”
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