Friday Face Off: Daly Cherry-Evans vs. Shaun Johnson

IN the latest edition of the Friday Face Off we’ll be matching up Manly talisman Daly Cherry-Evans with Warriors star Shaun Johnson.

IN the Friday Face Off, we’ll try and get to the heart of the greatest contests in rugby league and after starting with Billy Slater and Greg Inglis and Sam Burgess vs. James Graham we’re comparing Shaun Johnson and Daly Cherry-Evans.

Who has had the better club career?

Johnson and Cherry-Evans both debuted in 2011 and at this point have played 101 and 127 matches respectively, giving us a relatively even sample size.

They met in the grand final of their rookie year, which resulted in the first all-rookie halfback grand final showdown since 1947. With Manly’s 24-10 win, Cherry-Evans became the first rookie halfback to win a title since Steve Martin helped the Dragons to the 1979 premiership.

Since then, their careers have gone in vastly different directions. Cherry-Evans played a huge part in getting Manly to the finals in 2012-14 and controversially won the Clive Churchill Medal in the 2013 grand final loss to the Roosters.

He won Dally M Halfback of the year in 2014 and has established himself as one of the top halfbacks in the NRL.

The 2011 decider remains the only playoff game in Johnson’s career. The Warriors’ best season since was in 2014 when they finished 9th.

Johnson has a 47-54 record in the NRL while Cherry-Evans is a far superior 80-46. While Johnson has the edge on the highlight reel, Cherry-Evans has him covered in terms on consistency and while there are mitigating factors — even with their recent turmoil, Manly have been far more stable than the kingdom of madness that is the Warriors — Cherry-Evans has the more varied and deeper body of work.

However, when you examine their career stats the gap is not as wide as one might imagine. While stats must always be considered within context and should never be taken at face value, the numbers for Johnson and Cherry-Evans are very even.

Johnson’s season average is 9 tries, 17.8 try assists. 11.2 line breaks, 14.8 line break assists, 52.2 tackle busts, 17 forced drop outs and 31 errors.

Cherry-Evans averages 6.4 tries, 18.8 try assists. 9.8 line breaks, 12.6 line break assists, 67.6 tackle busts, 15.8 forced drop outs and 26.2 errors.

Cherry-Evans has benefited from greater stability at Manly.

These stats show Johnson to be the more dangerous running player but surprisingly Cherry-Evans runs far more often. Johnson’s career high of average runs per game was in 2014 where he made 5.7 runs per match.

That number would be a career low for Cherry-Evans, who has averaged over six runs per match every season in his career, including a career high 7.4 in 2011. Cherry-Evans is also the more efficient player, but his career high for errors (34 in 2014) is very close to Johnson’s career high in the same category (36 in 2013).

Since Johnson came into first grade he’s been one of the key playmakers for the Warriors, a situation that was exacerbated when James Maloney left the club at the end of 2012. Like his club, every time he appears to be on the cusp of breaking through to the next level, injury or a run of ill-form intervenes.

In 2015 Johnson was in some of the best form of his life before breaking his ankle in Round 20 against Manly and missing the remainder of the season.

While Cherry-Evans has had the advantage of a more stable club environment, an excellent halves partner who complements him and more experienced backline partners, he has been good enough to take advantage of those opportunities. His consistency over his five-year career earns him the nod.

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Who has had the better representative career?

You can make the case that Shaun Johnson has been the best halfback in international rugby league since the 2013 World Cup. He made his Kiwi debut in the ANZAC Test of 2012 and superseded Benji Marshall as Kieran Foran’s halves partner at the end of 2013.

Since then, he’s starred in the 2013 World Cup, scoring 74 points in five matches before the defeat to Australia in the final, he outpointed Cooper Cronk throughout the 2014 Four Nations and was a clear choice for player of the tournament after man of the match displays in the two wins over Australia.

He was again superb in the 2015 Anzac Test, which marked the first time since 1952-53 that New Zealand had managed to beat Australia three times in a row. Johnson’s performance in the 2014 Four Nations final was one of the finest Test displays in living memory — his wonderful cut-out pass for Manu Vatuvei’s try and exhilarating show-and-go for his own early in the second half were the mark of a special player. Similarly, his winning try and conversion in the final minute of the 2013 World Cup semi-final against England was something that will live in rugby league memory forever.

Shaun Johnson has starred for New Zealand.

Daly Cherry-Evans’ rep career has suffered from the enduring tenure of Cronk and Johnathan Thurston but he’s still managed to play 11 Tests and six Origin matches. However, when he has been thrust into a starting position at either level he has not experienced real success. He’s started two Origin matches at halfback, Game II in 2014 and Game II in 2015 and Queensland lost both games.

He also played the majority of Game I in 2014 after Cronk broke his arm, and Queensland again went down. His Australia career began on the bench and he did play in the 2013 World Cup victory, but he was slotted in as Cronk’s halves partner for the 2014 Four Nations and was overshadowed totally by Johnson and Foran.

Halves are often assigned too much of the credit in victory and too much of the blame in defeat, but the sample size is large enough that we can conclude Johnson has had the superior rep career to Cherry-Evans.

Who has the higher ceiling?

Because of Johnson’s continued fits and starts and flashes of brilliance, it’s hard to really peg his ceiling. When he runs past defenders like they’re ghosts or rips a cut-out pass that goes half the length of the Nullabor he seems to have no limits.

However, once again it comes back to the lack of consistency and cohesion Johnson displays from week-to-week. In a parallel to the Cherry-Evans situation, Johnson has endured a myriad of changes around him since Ivan Cleary left the club at the end of 2011. He’s had four coaches in four seasons (Brian McLennan, Tony Iro, Matthew Elliot and Andrew McFadden) and has never been given a halves partner that complements or accentuates his skillset.

We are yet to see the very best of Shaun Johnson.

As a result, its hard to say that we’ve seen the best of Johnson or that Cherry-Evans can significantly improve his output. Given the mitigating circumstances that have hampered Johnson’s capabilities, he has the higher ceiling.

Who is the more consistent?

As you’ve probably gathered, Cherry-Evans takes this category in a canter.

Final Verdict

You can boil this debate down to choosing either the possibility of Johnson or the consistency of Cherry-Evans, but that would overlook the context of their careers and Johnson’s continued superiority in representative football. While Cherry-Evans has gotten the better of club football from 2011-2015, Johnson has a greater scope to improve and is yet to receive the same kind of sustained support that Cherry-Evans enjoys.

Taking that into account, Cherry-Evans has had the better career overall from 2011-2015 but Johnson could surge past him in 2016. Not only will he have a world class hooker and fullback — something he’s been without for much of his first grade career — he’s also the apex and attacking spark of the best international team in the world. On the past, you take Daly Cherry-Evans. But for the future, you take Johnson.

Originally published as Friday Face Off: Daly Cherry-Evans vs. Shaun Johnson