A pair of NRL greats are divided on whether Sea Eagles skipper Daly Cherry-Evans will get booed by his own fans at Brookvale Oval this Sunday.
Cherry-Evans stunned his club when he announced on live TV on Monday night that he’s leaving Manly at the end of the season.
The 37-year-old said he was unsure if he’d retire but he’s been heavily linked with joining an NRL rival club on big money.
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Braith Anasta asked journalist Dean Ritchie if he thought the Sea Eagles faithful would turn on their captain when he runs out to host Parramatta on Sunday.
Ritchie pointed to Dylan Brown who was booed last week after deciding to leave the Eels at the end of the season to take up a historic $13 million deal with the Knights.
“I think Dylan Brown is very different to the DCE situation,” Anasta responded.
“DCE won them a premiership, he’s in great form, he’s played very consistently and has been their best player for nearly 10 years.
“He’s been offered a one-year, wants a two, didn’t get what he wanted and decided to move on… very different to Brown.”
Journalist Paul Crawley said: “If he goes out and has a blinder they’ll be booing the chairman’s box, it will be one or the other.”
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Anasta believes Cherry-Evans will be spared the jeers but Gorden Tallis pointed to when Broncos supporters ruthlessly booed their best player Payne Has for asking for a release.
“They booed Payne Haas when he was negotiating. He’s been their best player for the last seven years, that’s what fans do,” he said.
Cherry-Evans told Channel 9 on Tuesday night that he wasn’t worried about a potential backlash from fans this Sunday.
”To be honest, no, I’m not worried,” he said.
”I’m not saying that’s not going to happen, it’d be naive for me to think people aren’t going to say something, that’s understandable – but I’m not worried about it, no.
”I know there’s so much love and support from people at the club.”
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Crawley questioned whether Cherry-Evans’ bombshell move would make or break the third-placed Sea Eagles’ season.
“The concern now will be what will it do to the rest of their season? It has the possibility to blow it up or it could galvanise the players. But it’s going to create problems for someone, either the player or the management,” Crawley said.
“If he can sell it to the players that I’m going to retire, I’ve had a great time here and I think I’ve got 20 more games in me, I reckon they will galvanise. If he’s going to another club (they’re in trouble),” Tallis responded.
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“I see no reason why it wouldn’t galvanise them,” Anasta said.
“He’s been a club legend for a long time, he seems to have a great relationship with the players, they’ve had a fantastic start to the year.
“No one likes your teammates leaving and time will tell, but they all want to win the comp and now he’s leaving this is their last chance because they’ve got no one really to replace him with.
“You talk about premiership windows, it is now, it is this year.”
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