Frontrunner for wantaway Manly star Daly Cherry-Evans emerges

Daly Cherry-Evans announced he wants to leave Manly at the end of the season, and one club has emerged as a clear frontrunner for his signature.

The Sydney Roosters have emerged as the likely destination of Daly Cherry-Evans in 2026 after the Manly skipper informed the club he will be leaving at season’s end.

The Sea Eagles halfback is understood to be seeking a two-year deal and revealed earlier this week that he will seek pastures new next season, even sensationally turning down a seemingly last-minute $1.5m two-year offer from Manly, tabled to him after he announced he would be leaving the club on Monday.

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“Look respectfully … no (I won’t take it),” Cherry-Evans said on 100% Footy on Monday night in response to the Sea Eagles’ $1.5m two-year offer.

“As I said I’ve been sleeping on this decision since December, so talking to my family we’re okay with the decision … we’re at peace with it and we understand that it’s not going to make everyone happy and there’s going to be a lot of Manly fans that are really upset with this.

“I understand that but as a family and a friendship group, we’ve been aware of it for a while now and now it’s public it’ll be big news and I get that but we’re content with the decision.”

In the aftermath of the news the Roosters, Dragons and Dolphins emerged as possible landing spots for the champion No. 7.

But since then it has become clear that the Tri Colours are the team in pole position to land the premier half.

Daly Cherry-Evans rocked the NRL world by announcing he will leave Manly at the end of the season. Picture: Jonathan Ng

While Cherry-Evans hasn’t officially confirmed he will play in the NRL next year, it is expected that he will announce a deal with a rival club in the coming weeks, with the consensus being it will be the Roosters.

Before revealing he was leaving Manly there had been rumblings that the Roosters had identified Cherry-Evans as an ideal target.

It would be a similar move to what they did by bringing Storm halfback Cooper Cronk in at the end of his career.

And it is easy to see why the Roosters see Cherry-Evans as a perfect signing to try and push for another premiership with their current crop of players.

The previous call to sign Cronk resulted in two premierships and the success of that move is largely why they signed veteran playmaker Chad Townsend ahead of this year.

But with Townsend expected to retire at the end of the season, the Tri Colours are reportedly ready to capitalise on the Cherry-Evans situation.

And in a big boost to their chances of pulling it off, Cherry-Evans’ manager is also in charge of Roosters star James Tedesco and new Tri Colours recruit Reece Robson, so those channels are already open.

If he joined the Roosters it would also mean Cherry-Evans wouldn’t have to uproot his young family, which could also add to the allure, as will the option to partner boom youngster Sam Walker in the halves.

By signing with the Roosters Daly Cherry-Evans wouldn’t need to uproot his young family.

And Queensland great Darren Lockyer believes all signs indicate him doing just that.

“I think, Sam Walker is more suited for someone else to run the team. Sam plays off the cuff a bit. So I think they would combine pretty well,” Lockyer said on Wide World of Sports’ QLDER.

“The Roosters shed quite a lot of players. They have got some cap space. It is intriguing … he didn’t play for Australia at the end of last year and I think he has come out and started the season really well.”

Queensland great Wally Lewis agreed saying: “I agree, I think it would be great for Sam Walker to play his own game. For some time he has been playing a team game, rather than his own performances.”

Originally published as Frontrunner for wantaway Manly star Daly Cherry-Evans emerges