Daly Cherry-Evans will lead his beloved Sea Eagles onto 4 Pines Park on Sunday against Parramatta but the question now is will the love still be there from the Manly fans?
Five-eighth Dylan Brown was booed by Eels fans recently after his decision to take up a lucrative offer with Newcastle and Cherry-Evans could be in for the same treatment after his shock announcement that he would leave Manly at season’s end.
The 36-year-old has made clear his preference at this stage is to play on, particularly if another club is to offer him a deal for 2026.
The Sydney Roosters are believed to be monitoring the situation, while St George Illawarra now appear unlikely to make a play for the proud Queenslander.
South Sydney could also be a logical fit for Cherry-Evans given he could remain in Sydney, while the No.7 could be the missing piece to Canterbury’s puzzle and the Dolphins are likely to have an emotional pull, given he was born in the region and his father Troy played for the Dolphins in the BRL.
When asked during an interview with Nine if he was worried about a backlash from the fans, he said: “To be honest, no, I’m not worried.
“I’m not saying that’s not going to happen, it’d be naive for me to think people aren’t going to say something, that’s understandable – but I’m not worried about it, no.
“I know there’s so much love and support from people at the club.
“The main reason why I’m doing it is to take away the disruption and I get people might speculate on what’s next for me but we can now focus on our season, the club can focus on the season, and also in the background plan for life beyond here.
“A lot of the purpose behind coming out now is so we can move on and move forward.”
Dylan Brown. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
Hindmarsh says Brown should get out of town now
Eels legend Nathan Hindmarsh can’t see the point of Dylan Brown sticking around for the rest of this season and reckons he should take a hike to Newcastle straight away after signing his 10-year deal with the club.
“Is it better to just move him on? I’m getting to that point now where it makes sense,” the former captain told The Bye Round podcast.
“He’s not offering much at the Eels, to be honest. We know the brilliance is there. I want to see more from him. It was easy for me to do my job, cart the ball up, tackle someone, where he’s got to organise the whole shit show that it is there at the moment.
“The pressure has come in now that he’s signed with the Knights on that huge deal, but I think regardless anyway, the pressure would’ve been there without the huge price tag.”
Brown has claimed security and not money was his main driver in agreeing to join the Knights on the NRL’s most lucrative and lengthy contract.
The New Zealand international “never wanted to leave” Parramatta, but conceded Newcastle’s offer was too good to turn down.
The 24-year-old will quit the Eels at the end of this season and become the owner of the most valuable contract in NRL history after agreeing to a 10-year deal worth more than $13 million.
with AAP
