Wendell Sailor: AFL, soccer laughing at rugby league

AN NRL great has teed off over Daly Cherry-Evans’ decision to stay with the Manly Sea Eagles in rugby league’s biggest ever deal.

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DALY Cherry-Evans’ decision to stay with Manly has made a mockery of our game once again.

The AFL and soccer are just laughing at rugby league, saying, “What are those guys doing over there?”

For a start, no NRL player in the game, with the salary cap the way it is, is worth the reported $10 million over six years that Cherry-Evans will be getting at Manly.

It’s actually ridiculous.

If I had to pay the top four players in the game anywhere near that sort of money, it would be for Cameron Smith, Greg Inglis, Johnathan Thurston and Billy Slater.

The thing is, though — and I don’t mean to treat players like they are property — but the NRL market is a bit like the housing market. You’re worth as much as someone is prepared to pay for you.

There is no doubt Cherry-Evans is a quality player. I’ve been saying for a number of years that I would like to have seen the Broncos buy him because he’s a future captain of Queensland and Australia.

But that sort of money will make it very difficult for Manly to build a team around him.

And if that is the sort of money he’s going to get, good luck to him. But he’s going to have to earn it. There are going to be a lot critics and a lot of expectations.

Is Daly Cherry-Evans worth the cash?

The way it’s all happened is like a soap opera, it’s like The Bold and the Beautiful.

I didn’t think he could stay at Manly after the way the fans and the board treated him after the reports emerged he was heading to the Gold Coast Titans.

At no stage did I think he was going to stay after the initial news broke, especially considering I know his management group as well and that the Titans’ Aidan Sezer had been signed by the Raiders.

I also work with Gorden Tallis and he was always strong that Cherry-Evans was going to the Gold Coast.

Not for a minute did I think he would backflip so Manly obviously came in hard with the money. He’d been stringing Manly along.

I know he’s big on image, and all this is going to hurt him. But it’s nothing he can’t come back from.

He was toying with the fans and the media a bit throughout the process. Every time he said he was going to the Titans he left a “but” about Manly having until round 13 to come up with something.

But really, he hasn’t done too much wrong. It’s the rules of our game that are the problem and once again it’s the fans who get let down.

I’m glad the NRL has finally changed the round 13 rule, but I still don’t like the 10-day cooling off period.

Once you sign a contract that should be it.