Daly Cherry-Evans’ infamous backflip hurt the Gold Coast — but now the Titans are stronger for it
DALY Cherry-Evans’ decision to turn his back on a deal with the Gold Coast three years ago was a bombshell at the time. But after the fact, it was short-term pain for long-term gain, writes MAL MENINGA.
Opinion
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SOMETIMES rugby league can dish up perfect examples of “sliding door moments”, where one relatively minor action ends up reverberating through the years and affecting the destiny of a club.
Daly Cherry-Evans’ decision to turn his back on a deal with the Gold Coast and stay with Manly three years ago was one of those moments, but his decision changed the destiny of three clubs, not just one.
Out of those three clubs, it was the one that was not even involved in that contract spat — Brisbane — that suffered the most.
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Manly were impacted, but probably the least affected. They knew they had a champion player in their ranks and they were prepared to pay any price with a lifetime deal to ensure he stayed with the club.
The past couple of weeks have revealed that price to Manly — or more correctly, their salary cap — could not afford.
The Sea Eagles copped a big fine and two officials were suspended for salary-cap breaches over the past five years that undoubtedly had Cherry-Evans’ deal at its epicentre.
But with Manly now fifth on the ladder and Cherry-Evans absolutely on fire to start the season and roaring into contention for the Queensland Origin team, Manly probably think the price they paid — both in contract money and NRL sanctions — was worth it.
The Titans, on the other hand, were seriously wounded by DCE’s decision to stay with Manly.
They threw everything they had to try to get him, viewing him as the man the Gold Coast could rebuild their club around.
Their credibility took a blow and it suffered again when the Titans tried to stem the bleeding from the Cherry-Evans snub by throwing cash at a big-money quick fix — Jarryd Hayne — that backfired spectacularly.
But now, emerging from the smoking wreckage, the Titans must view missing out on Cherry-Evans as a dose of short-term pain for long-term gain.
In search of a halfback, the Titans grabbed Ash Taylor from the Broncos and neither the club nor Taylor has looked back since.
The Titans now have the halfback they craved to build a future around — one that is six years younger, with Taylor just turned 23 and DCE 29.
So Manly and Gold Coast both got what they wanted and the Broncos became collateral damage.
The Broncos were happy to give Taylor an early release to the Titans because they had Ben Hunt and Anthony Milford, and it was a decision that came back to haunt them last weekend when Taylor and the Titans stunned Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium.
Hunt is now gone and Brisbane’s halves again underperformed and came in for scrutiny after a poor display from the Broncos, one week after they failed to score a try (but still won) against the Tigers.
But had Cherry-Evans honoured his deal with the Titans the Gold Coast would have had no need to shop around for a halfback, meaning Taylor — most likely — would have still been at the Broncos waiting for his chance.
That chance would have come when Hunt headed off to the Dragons.
Instead the two of them go head-to-head on Sunday when their two clubs meet in Gladstone.
How Brisbane must wish they had Taylor’s direction to complement the brilliant running game of Anthony Milford.
Instead Milford is being asked to play both roles, behind a forward pack that will not give him a chance to do so.
TITANS STAND TOGETHER
AS good as Ash Taylor was against the Broncos last weekend, the most pleasing aspect about the win for Gold Coast coach Garth Brennan was the fact that the Titans were not a one-man band.
Against Canberra in Round 1, the Titans snuck home with a miracle win and it was Taylor who was credited with the try-assist in four of the five times Gold Coast got across the line.
Against Brisbane, Taylor had one try assist, Kane Elgey had two, Phillip Sami had one and even Ryan James — with that terrific kick into the in-goal for Sami — had one.
It paints the picture of a more balanced and more mature Titans team.
The next task for them is consistency.
Their effort against Brisbane was phenomenal. But the really good sides are the ones that produce that every week.
Originally published as Daly Cherry-Evans’ infamous backflip hurt the Gold Coast — but now the Titans are stronger for it
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