Manly-Warringah CEO Tony Mestrov has denied that he contacted Fox League’s NRL 360 live on-air to make a counteroffer after it was revealed their star halfback and captain Daly Cherry-Evans would be finishing up at the club at the end of 2025.
The Monday night episode of NRL 360 came to a screeching halt as a breaking story from Channel Nine revealed Cherry-Evans was leaving and was ruling out retirement.
“Breaking news, Mestrov and [Eagles owner Scott] Penn have just contacted Fox League and said they are going to counter this with a new offer so they don’t believe this is over,” host Braith Anasta said on the panel.
“They are going to counter this with a two-year offer to DCE so this is far from over by the sounds of it.”
Mestrov on Tuesday dismissed this news when he spoke to the press and revealed the counteroffer had come earlier in the day when Cherry-Evans rang the club himself.
“We did make him an offer yesterday with his manager,” the CEO said.
“It was a two-year offer so it wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction.”
Intriguingly, Cherry-Evans decision to inform the club of his plans came on the same day he was to appear on Channel Nine’s 100% Footy which aired a couple of hours after NRL 360.
This appearance on Nine’s panel show had been confirmed for some time.
According to Cherry-Evans himself, he broke the news to teammates in the sheds, after their massive win against the Raiders.
“I thought the best thing I could do for the situation was let everyone know where it’s at and where it’s been at for a while, that was why I felt it was best after yesterday’s game to come out and openly say where it’s at – no more footy at Manly beyond this year,” DCE said during his panel interview.
Danny Weidler, the journalist who broke the story earlier, sat alongside him on the show.
“It’s obviously not an easy decision, I’ve spent a long time there, [made] a lot of lifelong friends but the main reason for doing it is I felt like that as my career comes to an end, I wanted to take my time, whether that’s retiring or playing on.
“And by cutting ties with Manly this year then I felt like that was the best chance for me to have freedom throughout the year to take my chance to choose and from there they were able to move on and find the next halfback for Manly.”
It’s an extraordinary admission from the 330-odd game club legend – and skipper – that he’s happy for speculation on his future to continue throughout the year.
At another point in the 14-minute interview, Cherry-Evans denied he’d speak to rival clubs so he could focus on the season with the Sea Eagles.
Baffling considering minutes prior he conceded he would “have freedom throughout the year to take my chance to choose…”
When has that ever worked in a team’s favour?
Especially so early in the year, and after starting the season 2-1 with romping victories of North Queensland and Canberra.
Cherry-Evans also revealed that the Sea Eagles “weren’t going to offer anything unless another club offered anything, those offers didn’t come through from other clubs so Manly didn’t need to offer anything, which was fine”.
So now a rival club has offered something?
Which activated the Sea Eagles initiating the counter they said they would always offer?
Sounds like Cherry-Evans wanted an offer from Manly long before it got to here.
But why wasn’t this settled behind closed doors and everyone appear at a club press conference to confirm the news and “celebrate” the player’s achievements, and everyone shake hands and move on?
Manly might as well dump their finals hopes in a drum and light the damned thing on fire.
According to both Phil Rothfield and Brent Read on Fox League, who spoke to Penn and Mestrov respectively during an ad break, both were under the impression there was “no rush” and had been blindsided by the power play by Cherry-Evans on Monday.
2025 Beetson Raudonikis Medal – Round Three
The Queenslander, who famously backflipped after signing a contract with the Gold Coast Titans ten years ago, confirmed he hadn’t ruled out playing State of Origin this season either which would further derail Manly’s hopes of playing in September.
“That’s probably the next thing on my mind,” the 333-gamer said.
“When you talk about parts of the game that you love, I mean I don’t love doing weights and I don’t love doing cardio, but I love playing State of Origin.
“That’s something that’s going to be really hard for me to separate from. My heart’s definitely still in it but I reckon over the next month or so, I’ll get really clear on if that’s going to be the best thing for me and my body, and the Manly club.
“It’ll be really hard to say no to playing Origin again this year.”
The Sea Eagles should quite rightfully remove Cherry-Evans as captain of the club – whether he plays one more game for them or 20.
On Sunday, at 4 Pines Park, the club opens its 1947 Lounge with “champagne, oysters & Golden Eagles”.
There’s a fair chance things may not be as fun for Cherry-Evans when he comes face-to-face with the Brookvale locals up on the hill who have heard this song and dance several times over the years.
