Manly great reveals heated dressing room ‘confrontation’ with ‘selfish’ DCE
A Manly great has revealed details of a heated dressing room clash with Daly Cherry-Evans after criticising his decision to quit the club.
Manly great Mark ‘Spudd’ Carroll has revealed details of a heated confrontation with Daly Cherry-Evans in the Sea Eagles dressing room, claiming he gave the departing captain a handshake “known to make eyes pop”.
Cherry-Evans played his final game for Manly last Friday, farewelling the club in style with a left-footed field goal that secured a 27-26 win over the New Zealand Warriors at Brookvale Oval.
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The 36-year-old departs Manly as the clubs’s most capped player with 352 games, but he will not finish his career as a one-club player after flagging he would leave the Sea Eagles at season’s end.
Cherry-Evans is yet to officially announce where he will be playing in 2026, but it is widely expected he will join the Sydney Roosters on a one-year deal.
Carroll, who played in Manly’s 1996 premiership side, has lifted the lid about a “confrontation” he had with Cherry-Evans in Manly’s dressing room before a late-season game.
“Now that Manly is officially out of the finals race, I feel comfortable revealing the confrontation I had with Daly Cherry-Evans weeks after he decided to quit the Sea Eagles live on national television,” Carroll wrote in a column for The Nightly.
“I was in the Manly dressing-room before a late-season game and was looking to have a quick word with Ethan Bullemor and Toff Sipley, as I work with both of them throughout the season.
“But before I could get to them, I saw DCE staring daggers at me. What’s he so filthy about, I thought to myself.
“So I walked over to him and said: “Congratulations on what you have achieved here and good luck wherever you go.”
“He responded: ‘Do you really mean that?’
“I shot back: ‘What do you mean by that?’
“He then told me he’d read my column in The Nightly where I’d criticised his decision to quit the club after three rounds of a new season, suggesting it would cause a rift with teammates, ruin his legacy on the northern beaches and cost his side a finals berth.
“He was also upset I’d called on him to retire from State of Origin football and to give the maroon and whites his entire focus in his 15th and final year. DCE thought my article was harsh and out of line. And he felt I was now contradicting myself by congratulating him.
“I told him: ‘At least you’re reading my stuff and I don’t back away from what I wrote. You’re a legend of this club and played for your state and country and I thought it would be nice if you put all your energy into helping Manly make the eight.
“‘Instead, you come across as trying to be some sort of superhero and I feel your decision derailed the season. As for playing Origin, that backfired. You were the captain and got punted.’ He told me he was okay with that decision and I replied: ‘I certainly wouldn’t be’.”
Carroll went on to say: “I then gave him a special Spudd handshake – which has been known to make eyes pop – and we went our separate ways.”
Carroll said he did not regret writing his columns, adding he was convinced “Manly would be playing finals footy next week if not” for the manner of Cherry-Evans’ “selfish” departure.
“I’ve thought about our confrontation a lot since it happened and don’t have any regrets over what I said or wrote. Let me reiterate that there is no doubt this bloke will go down as one of the club’s all-time greats,” he said.
“What I said and wrote was strong stuff and probably painful for Daly to read, but someone had to say it and I will own my opinion even if it was upsetting to some. I truly believe Manly would be playing finals footy next week if not for his selfish decision to abandon ship and the way he went about it.
“How you can go on a footy show – with no club gear on – and blindside so many people with such a major career call is beyond me. And while his teammates said the right things publicly, you could tell they were hurting and angry.
“If DCE’s got a problem with me, I can live with that. I don’t have any regrets - but I’m not sure he can say the same thing.”
Cherry-Evans was one of several Manly players farewelled at Brookvale last Friday — Tommy Talau will depart the Sea Eagles despite featuring in just 10 matches this season.
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Josh Aloiai, Jazz Tevaga, Gordon Chan Kum Tong, Dean Matterson, Michael Chee Kam and Toafofoa Sipley will also depart.
Injuries to Taniela Paseka and Haumole Olakau’atu were a major blow this year, and Manly will look to bolster their forward stocks this off-season.
Manly finished the season 10th on the ladder with a 12-12 win-loss record.
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