Manly Sea Eagles not divided, says Daly Cherry-Evans

  • We had an issue with background services between march 10th and 15th or there about. This meant the payment services were not linking to automatic upgrades. If you paid for premium membership and are still seeing ads please let me know and the email you used against PayPal and I cam manually verify and upgrade your account.

Scorpio

Armchair Expert
So here we are, sitting in a Narrabeen cafe across the table from the rarest of species: the NRL player in a one-on-one interview, away from a sponsors backdrop and a vipers nest of television mikes and tape recorders hissing below his nose.

And, as Steve Irwin might have said, he's a little bewdy: Daly Cherry-Evans. The man who is apparently tearing Manly apart.

Let's prod him to see how he reacts outside of his natural habitat. (No, not Twitter.)

Read More




It's a decent read.
 
RE: DCE Interview

Great interview .Gives the impression he will chase the money anywhere , which I don't blame him.
If he wins us a premiership this year , How much will his stocks rise ??
 
RE: DCE Interview

"When the time is right for me to negotiate a new deal, I'll do what's best for my young family," he says. "In saying that, I would like to think I have enough integrity not to disturb any club in its recruiting and retention of players."

Great point :exclamation:
 
RE: DCE Interview

robbiea said:
Great interview .Gives the impression he will chase the money anywhere , which I don't blame him.
If he wins us a premiership this year , How much will his stocks rise ??

Right there it's easy to see why he says he has to carefully select every word when talking to the media. (Not having a go at you Robbiea)

He didn't say he'd chase the money, rather he'd do what's best for his young family. That might include not uprooting them and having a dad who's happy in his workplace.

I am so impressed with this young bloke. He is dead right about the comparison with a school environment. I hope he is the future of Manly for many years to come.

Well done Daly!
 
RE: DCE Interview

An obvious self serving money grab attempt by DCE there. Basically dumped on all his teammates and couldn't care less if senior players get dumped so long as he gets his way. Well that's how I read it but I have been reading too many DT articles lately. :p
 
RE: DCE Interview

mickqld said:
An obvious self serving money grab attempt by DCE there. Basically dumped on all his teammates and couldn't care less if senior players get dumped so long as he gets his way. Well that's how I read it but I have been reading too many DT articles lately.

Really? Wow.
 
RE: DCE Interview

I read it as he is not loyal to manly and will go to the highest bidder to look after his family. Fair enough I guess but its not really in the spirit of the Manly club, our players take less money to stay an eagle.
 
RE: DCE Interview

torana355 said:
I read it as he is not loyal to manly and will go to the highest bidder to look after his family. Fair enough I guess but its not really in the spirit of the Manly club, our players take less money to stay an eagle.

The world has changed. The NRL does not allow players to take less money to stay anywhere.

Having said that. what did Bozo do?
 
RE: DCE Interview

While some comments are baiting, some here I believe are serious. Why do we take this idealised view of RL contracts that, I am very sure, none of you would apply to your own employment situation?

He has not said he is going for top $, just doing best for his family - that can mean a multitude of things. I found it refreshing to read a candid interview that wasn't from someone like Benji, or SBW.
 
RE: DCE Interview

Nit sure how much we can read anything into it. Especially when DCE himself says:

"The only part of my job that's a chore – talking to media," he says. "Because it can be so scrutinised, and something so little can be taken and made into such a big deal"

It seems to me that is exactly what people are doing here.
 
RE: DCE Interview

I can't think of any big name player who hasn't said that they will take their family and needs into account when they consider a new contract. It is firstly one way of saying I want a really good offer tabled from my existing club, and secondly it is logical to think like that. I like Webster's articles but he was harsh in a few spots. DCE handled it well.
 
So here we are, sitting in a Narrabeen cafe across the table from the rarest of species: the NRL player in a one-on-one interview, away from a sponsors backdrop and a vipers nest of television mikes and tape recorders hissing below his nose.

And, as Steve Irwin might have said, he's a little bewdy: Daly Cherry-Evans. The man who is apparently tearing Manly apart.

Let's prod him to see how he reacts outside of his natural habitat. (No, not Twitter.)

Read More
 
So here we are, sitting in a Narrabeen cafe across the table from the rarest of species: the NRL player in a one-on-one interview, away from a sponsors backdrop and a vipers nest of television mikes a
Daly-Cherry-Evans-800x600.jpg
nd tape recorders hissing below his nose.

And, as Steve Irwin might have said, he's a little bewdy: Daly Cherry-Evans. The man who is apparently tearing Manly apart.

Let's prod him to see how he reacts outside of his natural habitat. (No, not Twitter.)

Is Manly a team divided?

"Not at all," Cherry-Evans says. "We all have such a strong will to be successful that when all is said and done we make sure that when it comes to training and applying ourselves, we make sure that we're the best we can be every single day. I think that's the best thing about being at this club. Every individual at this club has high expectations – that's why we're successful, year after year."

But you are the reason Glenn Stewart has now played his last game for the club. You are the reason no contract was offered to a club legend. You are the star player and premiership-winning halfback and Parramatta is rumoured to want you, and now you've sucked the salary cap dry or you're about to, or that's what they're saying in the papers. You're doing something, Daly.

Yes?

"I don't feel Glenn's contract and my contract have a bearing on each other at all," he says. "I'm still contracted next year, like a handful of players next year. For anyone to think my one contract has a bearing on Glenn's future contract is, I think, ridiculous. I don't feel any one player's contract at any club has such a big bearing, especially mine. Collectively, a group of contracts can. The salary cap is doing what it does best – trying to separate the best players at the best clubs."

Read his remarks in black and white and they look like he's played a straight bat. He has not.

Whether it is outside or inside his own club, whether it is unfair or not, the unmistakable fact is that Cherry-Evans has been demonised as the individual pulling the Sea Eagles apart.

What I find on this Thursday morning, though, is possibly the most articulate and thoughtful rugby league player I can recall interviewing in many years.

He had agreed to speak late last week, before Manly's defeat to Parramatta on the Friday night.

Cherry-Evans didn't grab that match by the scruff of its neck as he has others this year when he's prompted many to claim he is the competition's most valuable player.

If an interview is agreed to before a loss, it is often terminated. Injuries are usually tossed up as the reason. Not this week, mate. Things have changed.

"That's just not the way I was brought up," he says. "Everyone's different in how they move on in rugby league. Some take a week. I take a couple of days."

Cherry-Evans has always moved quicker than most.

This is his fourth season of first grade. He's won a grand final in his rookie year, lost a grand final since, played Origin for Queensland and Test matches for Australia. He will play his 101st match for the Sea Eagles when Manly host Penrith at Brookvale Oval on Sunday.

There's more. He became a father to a daughter, Navi, in February. Another baby to his long-time partner Vessa Rockliff is on the way.

A sobering thought: he's 25 years old.

So why the hurry?

"That's the obvious perception," he laughs, "but to be honest a lot of things that have fortunately happened in my life haven't been planned.

"Don't get me wrong I've always had aspirations to achieve what I've done in the game. For them to happen within a hundred games is a pleasure to be a part of. It's given me the opportunity to do that more often and hopefully for the rest of my career."

Cherry-Evans stands alone as the best halfback in the game right now. Despite his standing, he remains a mystery.

He describes himself as a "happy-go-lucky" footballer, who is besotted with his young family and the perspective they bring.

After Queensland lost Origin earlier this year, with Cherry-Evans steering the show in game two in the absence of an injured Cooper Cronk, coach Mal Meninga and his players assured him he wasn't to blame.

"Well, I said it," Cherry-Evans says. "I put a lot of pressure on myself post-game. I said that I felt the loss had a lot to do with the way I played. My teammates and the coach were quick to come out and defend me. Mal assured me that while the result wasn't what we wanted as a side, individually he didn't point the finger at me. I took a lot out of that. But then I went home and saw my daughter. That made me move on very quickly."

It's rare to hear him speak this candidly.

When we see him behind the sponsors backdrop, with the media gathering around and coming in for the kill, he never drops his guard. He's renowned for his ability to say a lot but very little.

"The only part of my job that's a chore – talking to media," he says. "Because it can be so scrutinised, and something so little can be taken and made into such a big deal. You need to be careful of what you say. It's unfortunate that the game has come to that but, as the game evolves, that's had a huge rise as well – what the media has control over. I have to have my back up sometimes and protect what I say and who I am saying it about."

I tell him other reporters, even some of his teammates, told me I wouldn't squeeze much out of him. He chuckles at the suggestion.

"So that's the unfortunate thing," he says. "I can't control what the media says about me. And I was lucky enough to learn that very quickly in my career. No matter what's said or spoken about me on the rugby league shows, I can't control what they're going to say.

"So I have to make sure I take it with a grain of salt and understand that's their opinion. That they are only one person. That I am only listening to the people who are important to my rugby league career. Some of them are media people. I take a lot out of what Peter Sterling says. He's a very wise man, and someone who has achieved so much. If he said something critical about my game then I would take it on board and fix it.

"Without sounding too self-indulgent, I try to make sure I get myself across what's been written about me. I like to know what people are talking about, and especially if it's revolving around myself because I feel as though if there are things being unfairly written about myself, that's something that I would bring up with someone."

There is media innuendo and gossip-mongering on Twitter, though Cherry-Evans is one of the few players who doesn't have an account, and then there are some inescapable truths.

Criticism might not be said to him directly from teammates and, according to those who know him well, he isn't the type to be dragged into team politics.

But, for several years, a headstrong senior player group has had as much sway at Manly as any board member.

The unwritten rule is that the senior player gets the money. Not the young buck. Not the 25-year-old. You wait your turn.

Cherry-Evans upset that balance of power when he won a premiership in his rookie year.

For reasons best known to them, some of those senior players have blamed Cherry-Evans for management's decision to squeeze out Stewart.

Fractured teams have won premierships and titles for decades. Exhibit A: the Australian cricket team. Exhibit B: the Manly Sea Eagles.

Yet whenever Manly plays poorly, the outsider easily lays the blame on apparent acrimony between various factions.

It even comes in victory.

The Sea Eagles almost looked disinterested against the Titans in round 23.

When Cherry-Evans put in a poor kick on the second tackle of a set, Channel Nine expert Phil Gould said while he didn't engage in speculation, the side's form hinted at deeper problems.

This is the burden the Sea Eagles must bear whenever the side doesn't perform.

"I find it quite comical sometimes," Cherry-Evans says. "In the heat of all the speculation and media talk this year, at the height of all of this Manly saga, we went through a four-game winning streak. It was never written about how well we were playing together and what we were doing for each other out on the field."

He concedes, however, that's he not the "best of mates" with all of his teammates. Not that he has to be the best of mates with everyone.

"Yeah, that is fair to say," he says. "What relationship players have with each other outside of rugby league can go from being best mates to not messaging or having any contact outside of footy.

"There's nothing more than that … It's like school; you're not best mates with everyone, but it doesn't mean you don't go to school."

Speculation will continue to whirl until Cherry-Evans' contract, which expires at the end of next season, is upgraded.

"When the time is right for me to negotiate a new deal, I'll do what's best for my young family," he says. "In saying that, I would like to think I have enough integrity not to disturb any club in its recruiting and retention of players."

Manly's in the spotlight already after the loss to the Rabbitohs earlier this month and the Eels last week. Some say they're gone. Others have doubts. After the Panthers this week, the Cowboys are next and there could be no greater test heading into September footy.

"Every team goes through its ups and downs during a rugby league season," Cherry-Evans says. "Over the past three weeks, we've lulled a bit. But it's fair for everyone to write and criticise us, because we're not playing well. But you can only hope, come over the next two final games, we get the applause we deserve for playing well as a side. There are standards that need to be maintained here – no matter what the situation is."
.
.
Andrew Webster
Chief Sports Writer, The Sydney Morning Herald

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/manly-sea-eagles-not-divided-says-daly-cherryevans-20140829-109veu.html
 
A sensible interview with straight forward answers that contain no innuendo, cliche quotes or hidden meanings.

Something must be seriously wrong....surely.
 
robbiea said:
Great interview .Gives the impression he will chase the money anywhere , which I don't blame him.
If he wins us a premiership this year , How much will his stocks rise ??

DCE- dollar chasing eagle?
 
bones said:
robbiea said:
Great interview .Gives the impression he will chase the money anywhere , which I don't blame him.
If he wins us a premiership this year , How much will his stocks rise ??

DCE- dollar chasing eagle?

No, no, no, no, no. Not another nickname for him pulease :dodgy: :p
 
I really admire this kid. He always speaks frankly, without giving too much away, not to mention he's a somewhat handy player.
Manly would be nuts not to do everything in their powers to hold onto this bloke.
In all work places there is unrest when less experienced, younger persons earn more money than the stalwarts.
I am 100% dedicated to our long term legends but when the current senior group are retired hopefully Cherry still proudly wears the maroon and white as co-caption with Foz.
 
Seriously at the end of this season no matter what happens there needs to be some serious leadership shown by the club.

The back biting which has fuelled uncontrollable gossip and inuendo has been a blight on 2014 and taken away what should be a good news story about the club continuing to prosper inspite of all the troubles.

This really reminds me of 1978, there were internal troubles that season and yet the club pulled of a memorable premiership, the backlash was that the team really struggled in the 2 seasons after in not making the finals.

DCE is a part of the future and we should do what is reasonable to retain him, if he leaves for higher coin, so be it.

Time to move on from all this!
 

Members online

Team P W L PD Pts
7 6 1 54 14
6 5 1 59 12
6 4 2 53 10
6 4 2 30 10
7 4 2 25 9
8 4 4 73 8
7 4 3 40 8
7 4 3 24 8
7 3 4 17 8
7 4 3 -8 8
8 4 4 -60 8
8 3 4 17 7
6 2 4 -31 6
7 3 4 -41 6
7 2 5 -29 4
7 1 6 -87 4
7 1 6 -136 4
Back
Top Bottom