Ricky Stuart pays Daly Cherry-Evans ultimate compliment after ‘masterclass’

Daly Cherry-Evans has left the NRL amazed by a masterful performance against Canberra that even left the Raiders coach in awe.

Daly Cherry-Evans had a hell of a game. Photo: Fox Sports and Getty Images

Manly halfback Daly Cherry-Evans has delivered a kicking masterclass, nailing both a 20/40 and a 40/20 as he led his Sea Eagles to its second win of the season in a 25-6 win over the Canberra Raiders.

Just three matches into the season, the Sea Eagles were languishing in 15th on the ladder, but put in an impressive performance on the back of the experienced half-back’s masterful kicking performance.

Stream every game of every round of the 2022 NRL Telstra Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free In Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Leading 10-6 at the break, Cherry-Evans booted one of the rarest feats in the game, kicking what is believed to be the second 20/40 seen in the game.

It was just the third tackle of the set three minutes into the second half when Cherry-Evans dropped it onto the boot and kicked it out around 37m out.

Implemented in 2020, the 20/40 had been kicked for the first time in last years’ preliminary final between the Melbourne Storm and Penrith Panthers.

It received little fanfare when Brandon Smith kicked out of dummy half while Dylan Edwards allowed the ball to trickle over the line, unaware he was seeing history.

Now four rounds into the new season, Cherry-Evans has become the second.

“Cherry-Evans, masterful,” Dan Ginnane said on Fox League. “A rule hardly every exploited and Cherry-Evans has kicked it to perfection with a slight breeze at his back.”

The 20/40 from Daly Cherry Evans was beautiful. Photo: Fox Sports

Steve Roach called it a “gutsy play” and while it didn’t lead to a try — Canberra got a penalty for a Manly obstruction — it showed Manly’s intent.

But like the reports Nathan Cleary was coming for Daly Cherry-Evans Australian jersey was burning in his mind, Cherry-Evans booted a 40/20.

It was the 32nd in his career as he went into dummy-half and nailed it from the 35m line to roll perfectly inside the 10m line.

“It was almost arrogant the way he did that,” Ginnane said.

Roach responded: “Stop the fight, sensational kick again from Cherry-Evans.”

It was the first time in one game Cherry-Evans had two 40/20s or 20/40s in a game and he became the first player to kick one of each in a half.

The kick also put the Sea Eagles out of reach of the Raiders, as Tom Trbojevic crossed the line in the corner.

And just for good measure, Cherry-Evans also kicked to field goal to give the Sea Eagles a 19-point win.

In the post-game, Raiders coach Ricky Stuart paid DCE the ultimate compliment.

Asked if it was just a masterclass of kicking, he said: “Yeah, it was.

“If I’m the Manly boss Scott Penn, I’d be going down and putting a fresh bunch of flowers on Bob Fulton’s grave every day. It’s the smartest play that club has ever made pinching him back off the Titans and offering him a million dollars for 10 years. Everybody bagged Bozo for it, it was a masterstroke.”

DCE had a blinder. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

After the game, Cherry-Evans was asked if he’d every kicked better than he had in the match, the halfback said: “I dunno. It was just one of those nights. They defended us really well and it was good to get a few results off kicks but it was a lot of hard work done before that. Some quick play the balls off our middles and Tommy so credit to them.”

Trbojevic praised his skipper’s kicking game.

“He kicked us out of trouble a lot and we got a lot of momentum on the back of his kicking game, 40/20 and a 20/40 to the tally,” Trbojevic said. “He was awesome for us tonight.”

Originally published as Ricky Stuart pays Daly Cherry-Evans ultimate compliment after ‘masterclass’