Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans has played down his showdown with Wests Tigers star Jackson Hastings after the former Sea Eagles teammates’ infamous spat in Gladstone more than four years ago.

Since then, Hastings left the NRL and won the Man of the Steel in England became one of the game’s great players in the Northern Hemisphere.

It’s a must-win for both teams at Brookvale on Saturday with the Eagles sitting 8th and Wests Tigers 13th – although the visiting Wests Tigers have won two of their last three matches including shock wins over Parramatta and South Sydney.

Manly have conceded 74 points in two-straight losses.

“I have found myself in some funny situations over my career but if they didn’t happen, I wouldn’t have learned some of the most valuable lessons I have got under my belt at the moment,” Cherry-Evans said.

“So when you do learn our most valuable lessons in rugby league you always hope it is never involving someone else, just you. Unfortunately that was a situation where two of us learned the hard way. That is just what happened. We both came out the other side.

“At the time it created a bit of publicity but he went away to England and got Man of Steel. He is leading the charge for the [Wests] Tigers. We saw each other after the trial match the other day. The writing is on the wall at the moment – he is playing great footy.

“I am really happy to see him playing some great footy.”