State of Origin 2018: Daly Cherry-Evans opens up on his Maroons recall, the Titans and why it’s his fault fans don’t like him
ON the eve of the biggest game of his career, a searingly honest Daly Cherry-Evans opened up about his Titans backflip, his Queensland recall — and why rugby league fans don’t like him.
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DALY Cherry-Evans admits he is playing for his Origin career this Wednesday night as the playmaker opened up about his fears and regrets in his turbulent return to the Maroons.
On the eve of the biggest game of his career, Cherry-Evans says it’s time for Queensland fans to “see the real me” in his quest to cement the Maroons’ No. 7 jumper for the next five years.
As he sits down with The Sunday Mail in Camp Maroon at Sanctuary Cove as he prepares for Game Three — his first Origin match in three years — it is hard to detect why Cherry-Evans is the most polarising figure in the NRL.
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Nothing is off-limits as Cherry-Evans bares his soul. For a man often pilloried as “fake” and “manufactured”, his honesty is one of searing self-analysis.
He talks about his deep regret at reneging on the Titans.
He claims he is to blame for the way he is viewed by league fans.
He doesn’t flinch when it is suggested Cameron Smith and Johnathan Thurston didn’t want him in the Queensland team.
He hopes he can one day find peace with Anthony Watmough.
He laments the way he once treated people in the media and admits he was scared of letting league fans see the “happy-go-lucky” football-mad kid who has found perspective as a father to three young daughters.
Most of all, Cherry-Evans is on a mission to prove he can fire in the Origin arena, adamant a Queensland victory this Wednesday night is the only antidote to critics who believe he can’t succeed in the code’s toughest arena.
“I feel I’m up to the Origin stage, absolutely,” said Cherry-Evans, who lost both his games as Queensland’s starting halfback in 2014-15.
“Look, the question won’t be answered until I have a good game for Queensland, that is the reality of the situation and I am aware of what people think of me and the perception that’s out there.
“The only right of reply I have is through next Wednesday and those 80 minutes.
“While I am happy to say I am back in the Origin arena after three years, I can’t be satisfied with that. The challenge for me is not to just be here for one game.
“I love this Queensland jumper and everything about being in camp … I want to be an Origin player for the rest of my career.”
At 29, Cherry-Evans has been in the NRL system for seven years, but there is little love for him. He has been combative with, and distrusting of, journalists. Last month, former teammate Watmough launched a sensational attack, labelling Cherry-Evans a “snake” who was “money hungry”.
Even Queensland fans have pilloried DCE, taking to the Maroons’ official Facebook page during the week to claim he doesn’t belong in their team.
Asked about the tidal wave of criticism and condemnation, Cherry-Evans, to his credit, takes full ownership.
“To be honest, it’s my fault people misunderstand me,” he said.
“For so long, I had some walls up and a lot of people were entitled to think, ‘What sort of bloke are you? Who are you?’ You come across as this well-spoken person in front of the cameras but then you are someone else behind the scenes.
“I can see why people have misunderstood me. That’s because of me and the way I acted and handled the media for so long.”
Why?
“It was a fear,” Cherry-Evans continues. “People have different ways of handling fear and my way of handling fear was to go within myself and not show anything.
“For a long time, I spoke without emotion to the media. I thought the less I give, the less you can pick me apart, but it was the wrong way.
“It’s been hard because, by nature, I’m a very private person and I’ve grown to learn that whether you like it or not in the NRL, you are a role model and you are in the public spotlight.
“I’ve decided to give more to the media and the fans generally and it’s given me a better understanding of who I really am.
“It’s taken me a long time to grasp, but I feel now that I can give myself open-heartedly to the media and be the genuine person I am while keeping my kids and partner out of it.
“I now get more positive feedback from people in the game and that’s pleasing because I want the fans to see the real me.”
Cherry-Evans has no doubt the public backlash stems from his decision to backflip on joining the Titans in 2015.
But in his most revealing insight into the Titans saga, the Manly skipper says when he shook hands with Gold Coast bosses three years ago, he had no intention of staying at the Sea Eagles.
Just weeks after Cherry-Evans had purchased a new home on the Gold Coast, Manly rocked him with an eight-year, $10 million contract.
“A lot of fans are angry at me over that (the Titans backflip), 100 per cent,” he said.
“I regret the way it all happened, definitely. I really regret the way the process unfolded.
“There are a lot of people who will say what I did was morally wrong, but I hope one day people can see that the offer from Manly gave me the opportunity to set up for family for life and I would never begrudge anyone the chance to do that.
“People say I never took the Titans seriously, that I strung them along, that I played them. That’s rubbish. I bought a house on the Gold Coast. I was on my bike ready to go and I was so serious I asked my parents if they would also consider moving to the Gold Coast.
“When I agreed to join the Titans, I was absolutely going there. I thought there was no way in hell Manly were going to turn around and say we want you to stay. Deciding to join the Titans was the hardest decision I ever had to make because I loved Manly as a club, but they had initially decided to pursue Kieran Foran, which I had to accept.
“It’s a shame that that period deters people from respecting me as a footy player, but I’d like to think I have played a level of football to warrant being back in the Queensland team.
“I just hope that one day the fans can say this bloke did the best thing by his wife and three kids.”
It has often been speculated that Cherry-Evans didn’t have the support of Queensland’s senior core led by Smith and Thurston, but he says all he can do is give his all in the Maroons No. 7 jumper this week.
“Cam and JT were fine to me,” he says. “That’s why I scratch my head because I’ve never had any senior Queensland player tell me I’ve done something wrong.
“I have always been very respectful to my senior players and very respectful to the values of the Queensland jumper.
“Even in this camp, things have been great. I’ve worked hard to learn the plays and hopefully my NRL experiences during my time out of the Origin team has matured me and has me ready to execute for 80 minutes on Wednesday night.
“I hope I’ll be able to do that.”
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