Reasons behind DCE’s stunning ‘smear campaign’ claim explained

A handful of reasons behind Daly Cherry-Evans’ stunning ‘smear campaign’ remarks in the wake of his NRL bombshell have been revealed.

A couple of reasons behind Daly Cherry-Evans’ stunning ‘smear campaign’ claim have been revealed.

Following Manly’s win over the Eels in the first game since Cherry-Evans dropped the bombshell he won’t return the club beyond this season, the star half spoke passionately in several post-match media interviews to accuse unnamed people of running a ‘smear campaign’ against him.

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“I know who it’s coming from and it’s not appropriate to talk about it,” he said in the Manly press conference.

The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield said on Monday morning’s Big Sports Breakfast radio show that while Cherry-Evans didn’t name anyone, the comments were “obviously referring to Manly CEO Tony Mestrov”.

Veteran journalist Brent Read believes why Cherry-Evans might feel Mestrov and Sea Eagles powerbrokers were trying to run a smear campaign against him.

DCE spoke out about the smear campaign on Sunday. Photo: Tom Parrish

“There were stories that came out during the week that I’m sure he’s (Cherry-Evans) not happy about. One was that he asked for a release at the start of 2024 which hadn’t come out before. It’s fact as far as I’m aware,” Read said on NRL360.

“The other one was about money and this perception has come out that his camp wants $1m-$1.2m for him to stay there and I think there’s a perception maybe from Daly at least that it got painted that it was maybe about money.

“Someone tried to tell me today that Cherry-Evans’ camp never discussed money with Manly.

“That’s ridiculous. What agent or agency doesn’t talk to a club about what sort of ballpark figure the player’s worth?”

Read defended the way Manly reacted to Cherry-Evans’ public announcement he wouldn’t be a Sea Eagle next season, believing the club had every right to “get on the front foot”.

“It was naive to think the club wouldn’t defend itself this week because they had to because the supporters wanted answers, sponsors wanted answers. They had to get on the front foot and explain what happened,” Read said.

“In a way, that’s potentially reflected badly on Daly at times.”

DCE’s contract saga has turned ugly. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)

The comments were reportedly pointed at Manly CEO Tony Mestrov. (AAP Image/Dean Lewins)

While the Sea Eagles didn’t seem distracted on field and failed to skip a beat in the win over the Eels despite the tumultuous week, Cherry-Evans’ post-game comments clearly show there’s a massive disconnect between he and some members of the club’s front office.

The NRL360 panel discussed whether the distraction of the impending exit of the Manly skipper could end up causing a promising 2025 campaign to go off course.

One NRL legend says Cherry-Evans needs to get his senior teammates “onside”, especially Jake Trbojevic given the latter made some strong comments last week in reaction to the DCE bombshell.

Trbojevic, who has been with the club since he was 14, said he “personally couldn’t” leave Manly

“DCE needs to take his senior players out for a beer and a steak and talk to them because the loudest voice last week was from Jake Trbojevic who said ‘I wouldn’t do it’,” Gorden Tallis said.

“If you’re going to put anyone on a pedestal at Manly over the last 10 years, it’s Jake Trbojevic. No one has a bad word to say about him.

“When he come out he was the loudest voice so he needs to get him back onside as well as Tommy (Trbojevic).”

Originally published as Reasons behind DCE’s stunning ‘smear campaign’ claim explained