Mal Meninga reveals the reason he dropped Daly Cherry-Evans in 2015

Our greatest State of Origin coach Mal Meninga reveals why he made the decision to drop Daly Cherry-Evans from the mighty Maroons in 2015.

I CLEARLY remember making the phone call to tell Daly Cherry-Evans that he would not be selected for the Maroons ahead of Game Three in 2015.

We had just been beaten in Melbourne and were preparing to return home to Brisbane for the decider.

After missing Game Two with a knee injury, Cooper Cronk was going to be fit to partner Johnathan Thurston in the halves and we had to make a call on who would wear the No.14.

The decision was between Daly and Michael Morgan for that bench spot.

Two things influenced our decision. The first was Michael had the ability to play a number of positions.

The second reason was Daly was carrying a shoulder injury at the time and to tell the truth he didn’t have a great game at the MCG because the Blues targeted him in defence.

Defensively we felt he still wasn’t right because of his injury. So we made the call to stick with Michael.

Daly Cherry-Evans talks about his shoulder injury with the team doctor Roy Saunders and coach Mal Meninga during the 2015 series. Picture: Adam Head

It really was that simple, regardless of all the rumours and innuendo around perceived personality clashes and team politics.

None of the players ever had any problem with him or his desire to play for the Maroon jersey. That was never an issue.

There has always been innuendo around Daly in the team environment, not just around the Origin side but him in general.

Who is the real DCE? He is a genuine person. He cares about what he does and how he is perceived, but also cares how people around him are going. He wants to be a winner. He leads by example. He is someone who is always learning and striving for excellence.

He has learnt that the team is really important to individual success.

With personalities, everyone is different and just because you are teammates doesn’t mean you have to be best mates.

NSW's Boyd Cordner and the Blues forwards targeted Daly Cherry-Evans during Game Two at the MCG in 2015.

The art of building a team is bringing in all the different personalities, all the different egos and having a common goal and a common purpose.

If someone goes against what the team is trying to achieve, then they have to go. But that was never the case with Daly.

The decision was made about who we needed to play No.14 and we believed Michael was a better option. That was my conversation with him.

It was interesting to hear his thoughts this week on that phone call back in 2015 and how it has motivated him to not only fight his way back to the Origin arena but be named captain.

Mal Meninga believes Daly Cherry-Evans will be a great Queensland captain.

If my conversation with him motivated him to become a better player, than good on him.

His growth as a person through all those ups and downs, criticisms and success stories, has certainly made him stronger and a better leader and person.

It is the reason I selected him in my Australian side last year and made him vice-captain.

He possesses all the qualities you want in a leader and he will lead Queensland extremely well.