Manly will attempt to convince captain Daly Cherry-Evans to backflip on bombshell decision to quit club

Manly officials are hopeful skipper Daly Cherry-Evans will change his mind after his bombshell revelation shocked the club.

Manly chief executive Tony Mestrov isn’t giving up hope that the club can convince champion halfback Daly Cherry-Evans to stay, although it’s appearing increasingly unlikely given the captain’s strong stance after announcing his decision to leave the Sea Eagles at the end of the season. .

A quiet Monday was flipped on its head when the bombshell news broke that Cherry-Evans wouldn’t be at the Sea Eagles in 2026, which prompted the club to then announce it was willing to offer him a two-year deal worth a reported $1.4m.

But in a hammer blow to those plans, the 36-year-old then told 100% Footy “respectfully, no” when asked if he would be willing to accept the deal.

“I thought the best thing I could do for the situation was let everyone know where it’s at and where it’s been at for a while, that was why I felt it was best after yesterday’s game to come out and openly say where it’s at … no more footy at Manly beyond this year,” he said on Monday night.

Cherry-Evans made his debut in 2011 and won a title in his first year, with the representative skipper to go down as one of the greatest players to ever pull on a Manly jersey after signing what was the biggest ever deal at the time.

Daly Cherry-Evans won’t be at Manly in 2026. Picture: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

He backflipped once and fans would love him to change his mind one more time, with Mestrov giving his version of events of what transpired over the past few months that led to a chaotic few hours that were played out in the public spotlight.

“We just want to reiterate the point that the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles this morning coined a two-year offer to Daly Cherry-Evans for the 2026-27 seasons,” he said on Tuesday morning.

“Daly is a legend of this club. He’s played more games than anyone else at this club and he has the right to stay and play at this club. If Daly does play in the NRL, we want him to play at the Manly Sea Eagles.

“I just want to reiterate what Daly said last night that Daly did speak to us in December. He was going to either retire or go overseas. He reiterated that it would be his last year at Manly and we respected that.

“No one said anything that was in the vault. Daly has felt that he needs to come out with the press around. We did not want to make him an offer or infiltrate him in any way.

“We made an offer yesterday to his manager. We instructed that we’d make a two-year offer which we’ve done today, so it wasn’t a kneejerk reaction. We’d been speaking about that for a while. It’s up to Daly now to make the decision.”

Manly Sea Eagles chief Tony Mestrov wants Cherry-Evans to play on at Manly. Picture: NewsWire / Christian Gilles

The decision caught everyone by surprise, with most people expecting him to either retire or sign an extension to finish as a one-club player.

It’s sparked suggestions that the skipper is angry with people at the club over a perceived low-ball offer, but Mestrov insists that’s not the case.

“There is no animosity between Daly and the club,” he said, with comparisons being made to how Souths handled Adam Reynolds’ contract negotiations and subsequent shock exit.

“I spoke with Daly before I came to this press conference. There is no problem between Daly and the club, there is no problem with Daly and me and there is no problem with Daly and the coach.

“Daly has told a few teammates that it will be his last year, and now it’s up to Daly to quantify whatever point he wants to. The ball is in his court with the offer. If he wants to play NRL again, we’d love that to be at Manly.

“I don’t think we were blindsided because I still think he’s not sure about what he’s doing, and he reiterated that to ‘Seibs’ (Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold) yesterday.

“I wasn’t blindsided because Daly told us in December. We just didn’t want to tell the broader media, but what happened in the last two weeks was that the media has fast tracked this situation.

“We’ve always had offers on the table for Daly. We’ve always said that ‘we’d love you to stay at the club’. As far back as November we were talking about a one-year extension.

“Although nothing was formally put on the table, the discussion was already there.”

Cherry-Evans is a Manly legend. Picture: NRL Imagery / Shane Myers

Cherry-Evans has been in outstanding form to start the season despite suffering back spasms in New Zealand, and there are plenty of clubs that would love to sign him, with the Dolphins, Titans and Roosters emerging as the early favourites.

Mestrov hasn’t given up hope of keeping the club legend, saying “I don’t think we’re too late (with our offer)”, but they can’t wait too long for him to make up his mind.

They have a couple of young playmakers coming through, but they’re still a while away and won’t provide the leadership and game-winning nous that Cherry Evans has built over his time at the club.

It’s left the club in a delicate position so early in the season, but Mestrov says he doesn’t regret their patient approach.

“He’s irreplaceable, but we kind of knew this day would come,” he said.

“And we’ve got planning behind that. We’ve obviously got some exciting young talent in Onitoni Large and Joey Walsh. They are the future. And we’ve got other plans for other players to move in that position. I don’t want to go into that today, but it’s exciting.

“We go into our next step, but Daly will never be forgotten, and he’s irreplaceable. It’s as simple as that. He’s played more games than anyone else and captained the club more than anyone else, so he’s irreplaceable.

“But like every club, you’ve got to move on, and we’re quite content where we are at the moment.”