By Dan Walsh and Billie Eder
Wayne Bennett described the Daly Cherry-Evans saga as hitting the “self-destruct button” on the NRL season four weeks into the competition. His old coach Des Hasler likened it to reality TV.
And Bulldogs boss Phil Gould said every rival NRL club would be interested in Manly’s decorated playmaker and captain, while specifically dodging Canterbury’s status as a potential smokey to land Cherry-Evans next season.
Hasler did the same, refusing to “go down that rabbit warren” when asked about what would be the ultimate rugby league tale – a reunion between Manly’s last premiership-winning coach and No.7 at the Titans, a decade after Cherry-Evans backflipped on the club.
Bennett did on Thursday join the Dragons in ruling out a pursuit of the 36-year-old, lamenting the in-season contract circus that follows on from Dylan Brown’s domination of headlines with his record-breaking $13 million Knights deal.
The South Sydney coach cited a stretched salary cap, a bid to extend Cody Walker and the recent $500,000-a-year signing of Brandon Smith as reason to bow out of the looming Cherry-Evans sweepstakes.
The Sea Eagles would seem all but gone despite a new two-year, $1.4 million offer given Cherry-Evans’ “respectfully, no” when it was put to him on Channel Nine’s 100% Footy.
The Dolphins are on the record and keen, while Roosters coach Trent Robinson will address his club’s stance during his weekly media conference on Thursday.
With the Bulldogs ranking alongside the Tricolours as favourites to secure Cherry-Evans’ services, Gould referred to the playmaker’s Monday night declaration that he was still weighing up whether to play on in 2026.
“There is a fair bit to play out here, he’s still got a long season to get through this year. He’s got to get to the back end of this year and see how that goes,” Gould said on his Six Tackles with Gus podcast.
“Every club would consider it, but he’s not available today. So you need to get on with the rest of your development and what have you ... If he ever made himself available to go to another club you’d think about OK, where does he fit in? How much football has he got left in him?
Daly Cherry-Evans and Wayne Bennett celebrate after Queensland won the Origin decider in 2020.Credit: NRL Photos
“What can he do for the younger players in our club, and what can he do for the education of our club? There might be clubs that think they’re in a premiership window that he might make the difference for them.”
Signing Cherry-Evans would take Gould’s Bulldogs from a finals side to a premiership contender, with an elite game-managing halfback considered one of the few missing pieces of Cameron Ciraldo’s roster.
The Dolphins have the salary cap space to table a lucrative offer alongside the romantic element of finishing his career at Redcliffe, where he once played junior footy.
The Roosters also have the funds to add Cherry-Evans to a forward pack filled with representative players and a spine featuring playmaking prodigy Sam Walker, captain James Tedesco and, from next season, NSW hooker Reece Robson.
For his part, Hasler was in a jovial mood on the Gold Coast, quipping that “rugby league is the game that keeps giving isn’t it?”
“I will say it once,” he said of any potential Cherry-Evans bid, which would require a significant restructure of the Titans forward-heavy roster.
“We are really happy with the retention that we have and the direction that we are taking.
“Knowing Cherry, and his management team are also pretty smart, they will sit back now and just wait, I’d imagine. I think there is a lot more to play out.”
And Bennett? The veteran coach isn’t buying the Cherry-Evans retirement talk. But he’s not happy about the prospect of his future dominating the rest of 2025 either.
Daly Cherry-Evans has blossomed into a leader during Hasler's second stint in charge after his first netted them the 2011 premiership.Credit: NRL Photos
“I’m sure wherever Daly goes, he’ll be good for them as well. There’ll be some club that will need a halfback and probably pretty close to being the top team, but they just haven’t got the right player at halfback right now,” Bennett said.
“He’s virtually injury-free. Plays good football every week, so he’s not ready for retirement, that’s one place he’s not going.
“[But] this does nothing for the game. It does nothing for the club. It’s wrong, and I wish we’d fix it.
“You don’t see this in Aussie rules, they are our major competitor. We’ve hit the self-destruct button four weeks into a football season that’s already provided some great football.
“The whole focus is on what a couple of players or clubs have done. So, clubs have done whatever the case. It just shouldn’t happen. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen.”
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