Andrew Johns' telling claim about DCE's next move as Tom Trbojevic dragged into saga
Andrew Johns has claimed Daly Cherry-Evans may have made a verbal agreement with a rival club before his announcement as Phil Gould claimed clubs are not surprised with the halfback's decision to leave after rumblings around Tom Trbojevic. Cherry-Evans' announcement he will leave the Manly Sea Eagles in 2026 has rocked the NRL with fans questioning where the halfback will finish his career.
Both Cherry-Evans and Manly have come under scrutiny since the interview with plenty of reports suggesting there is a disconnect at the club. Reporter James Hooper made the bombshell claim on Wednesday the Cherry-Evans asked for a release 12 months earlier, which the club shut down.
Cherry-Evans could opt to retire at the 2025 season, but the overwhelming consensus is he will finish his career at a rival club. The 36-year-old has been heavily linked with a number of clubs, but the frontrunner to sign the veteran is the Roosters.
Cherry-Evans' management team are also in charge of Roosters superstar James Tedesco, and Cowboys hooker Reece Robson. The Sydney club is looking to strengthen their squad next year with Robson joining the Rooster in 2026, leading to speculation Cherry-Evans' management are trying to assemble a superstar spine at the Bondi club.
The added bonus for Cherry-Evans is the Roosters have plenty of room in their salary cap and he wouldn't have to leave Sydney with his young family. On Tuesday, Broncos legend Darren Lockyer claimed Cherry-Evans would work well with Roosters playmaker Sam Walker if he joined the club.
And speaking on Wednesday, NRL Immortal Johns admitted he was stunned Cherry-Evans was leaving the club he has played for since 2011. But the legendary halfback admitted he feels Cherry-Evans is savvy enough to have arranged a move to another club before he made the announcement.
"I could not believe it. If someone had said to me at the start of the year Daly Cherry-Evans won't finish at Manly would have laughed at them," Johns said on the Freddy And The Eighth show. "I think there has already been a deal done. I don't think he's signed, but I think he's agreed to terms with a handshake or a wink."
Johns then suggested Cherry-Evans could very well end up at the Roosters having turned to his former teammate Brad Fittler. "Why wouldn't he?" Fittler said of Cherry-Evans joining the Roosters. "They've got plenty of space.
The thing I think with Daly is he is an intelligent bloke and he is very calculated. I can't imagine Daly coming out and saying, 'You know what, I'm not going to play with Manly next year' and not know what his future is looking like."
Both Fittler and Johns believe the halfback has been working since the end of last year to line-up a deal and it appears the Roosters could be ready to make a play. However, Bulldogs supremo Gould suggested he isn't as surprised as his counterparts with the news Cherry-Evans is leaving.
On Wednesday night, Hooper claimed Cherry-Evans tried to leave the club 12 months ago. Hooper suggested Cherry-Evans' announcement he would not re-sign with the club isn't a snap decision, but one he has been eyeing for a while.
And Bulldogs general manager of football Gould has hinted clubs were aware of disconnection between the player and the Manly Sea Eagles heading into this season. And Gould also claimed eyebrows were raised when there were ongoing rumblings of Manly considering Trbojevic making the switch to five-eighth. This was despite Cherry-Evans still being contracted at the club.
"Was it a shock? No, I've got to be brutally honest, because there were rumblings about this late last season," he said on the Six Tackles with Gus podcast. "There was even mild media references around Manly considering a switch for Turbo [Tom Trbojevic] to go to five-eighth and [Lehi] Hopoate being the future at fullback."
Gould even claimed there were rumours within the NRL community Cherry-Evans was going to be offered to rival clubs this year. "There were rumblings and there was even a period there where people were saying he [Cherry-Evans] was going to be offered up for 2025. None of us believed it and just put it down to scuttlebutt and nobody took any notice.
"There was certainly smoke around that time of a change of position for Tom Trbojevic and maybe Daly Cherry-Evans moving on. Whether he got wind of that, whether it was accurate- I have no idea - but in hindsight maybe there was a little bit of truth to that."
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