State of Origin 2018: Daly Cherry-Evans could win game three but wining back Queensland’s trust will be harder
DALY Cherry-Evans has answered the call. But while the Manly skipper could win Origin III for the Maroons, he will find winning back the trust of Queensland a much tougher task, writes PETER BADEL.
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DALY Cherry-Evans isn’t just playing for his Maroons future in Origin III. He is playing to win over the hearts and minds of the Queensland rugby league public.
Queensland have produced 197 players since the birth of Origin football in 1980 but it is fair to say no other Maroon has been as reviled, rightly or wrongly, as Cherry-Evans.
Getting a Queenslander to bag one of their own is as difficult as trying to spot the Loch Ness monster but Cherry-Evans seems to be forever fighting against a tidal wave of criticism and scepticism, even from the most ardent Banana Bender.
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Queensland people treasure their Origin playmakers like footballing deities — Allan Langer. Wally Lewis. Darren Lockyer. Johnathan Thurston. Kevin Walters.
A few, Thurston included, were never always perfect poster boys but by virtue of their brilliance for the Maroons, they were enshrined and protected by Queensland’s common man.
“Alfie” Langer can dance on tables at a Brisbane pub in a semi-naked drunken stupor, but all is forgiven with the Queensland people because, hey, Alf is Alf and we bloody love him for the cheeky larrikin he is.
Thurston was charged with public drunkenness following Australia Day celebrations in 2008. At the time, he was just nine games into his Origin career, but four months later he was named Queensland’s halfback and never looked back in a wonderful 37-game career.
But Cherry-Evans breaks curfew with a few Manly teammates in Gladstone and there are calls for him to be sacked as Sea Eagles captain and black-listed by Queensland for life.
Different standards. Hypocritical views. And at the heart of it all rests incessant doubts about Cherry-Evans’ image, proof that often we are judged not by our performance but the reputation that precedes us.
The reality is circumstance, not on-field form, has delivered Cherry-Evans back into the Maroons family for the Suncorp dead-rubber.
If Kalyn Ponga stays fit, chances are Ben Hunt would have been afforded one last shot at redemption at halfback, leaving the Manly skipper out in the Origin cold for another 12 months.
Cherry-Evans is the Michael Clarke of the NRL.
Like the former Australian Cricket captain, Cherry-Evans is polite, smart, articulate and well-mannered. Yet for reasons that are murky, confusing and largely imperceptible, there is a view DCE is all about me, me, me.
Unquestionably, it will be traced to the events of three years ago, when Cherry-Evans shook hands on a four-year deal with the Titans, only to sensationally renege weeks later to sign a lifetime contract with Manly.
Cherry-Evans’ management argued everything they did was within the rules — and they are right. But to Joe Public, it was morally bankrupt.
A handshake deal infers your word is your bond, and when Cherry-Evans walked out on the Titans, the breach of trust resonated with blue-collar Queensland league folk.
Next Wednesday night at Suncorp Stadium — the place where he was ruthlessly booed by Broncos fans after his Olympic-quality Titans backflip — Cherry-Evans gets the chance to win back the people.
Queensland coach Kevin Walters deserves credit for issuing the Cherry-Evans lifeline. He is playing the ball, not the man.
During his time as Queensland skipper, Cameron Smith was a powerful figure and no player wore Maroon without his informal seal of approval.
That is not to say Smith disliked Cherry-Evans personally, but the champion hooker drove Queensland’s game plans.
The Manly playmaker’s style clearly didn’t mesh with a Queensland spine dominated by Smith, Thurston and Cooper Cronk.
Now those three champions are gone, leaving the Maroons searching for a new style and someone to put their stamp on a fresh canvas.
Cherry-Evans has that ability.
He is talented enough to be Queensland’s No.7 for the next five years, but to truly belong in Maroon, DCE must win over the people on Caxton Street.
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Originally published as State of Origin 2018: Daly Cherry-Evans could win game three but wining back Queensland’s trust will be harder
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