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Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans has revealed he considered quitting Manly after his bombshell claim there was a political “agenda” at the club to have him sacked as Sea Eagles skipper.
Cherry-Evans opened up about his horror final months at Manly as the Maroons maestro prepares to lead Australia’s Prime Minister’s XIII into battle against Papua New Guinea on Sunday at Suncorp Stadium.
The 283-game Manly legend addressed explosive rumours he didn’t get on with the club’s Polynesian contingent, his relationship with besieged coach Des Hasler and the personal toll of calls for him to be axed as Sea Eagles captain.
Cherry-Evans admits he was also rocked by claims he had a fractured relationship with the Trbojevic brothers, Tom and Jake, prompting the 33-year-old to consider quitting Manly – just months after inking a two-year extension.
Manly had a shocking finish to the 2022 season, losing seven straight games following the gay-pride jumper debacle, and Cherry-Evans concedes he was almost a casualty of the flying shrapnel at Brookvale.
“I’d be lying to say it (joining another club) didn’t cross my mind,” Cherry-Evans said ahead of the PM’s XIII-PNG clash.
“People just wanted to cause uncertainty.
“I know that sounds ridiculous … how could people at one club want to rip the place apart but unfortunately that is the situation we have at Manly.
“Those things I can’t control.
“After these things come out (about Cherry-Evans losing the dressing room) … once you have the conversations with people within the club and how unrealistic these comments were, I feel really comfortable about where I stand.
“It just reassured me that what I am doing at this club is the right thing.
“The love I have for the place hasn’t changed. I am going to continue to try and get Manly back to finals next year and finish my career there.”
There is a view a faction at Manly is working behind the scenes, politically, to have Cherry-Evans removed as skipper in favour of Jake Trbojevic.
The 33-year-old is aware of the speculation and fears the innuendo surrounding his relationship with Manly’s slew of Polynesian players was a racial narrative constructed to trigger his demise from the Sea Eagles leadership post.
“I thought that (being offside with Polynesian teammates) was pretty funny to be honest considering how comfortable I am with all my teammates, let alone the seven that didn’t play (over the gay-pride jersey) and the rest of the Polynesian group,” Cherry-Evans said.
“They are just rumours that came out because people wanted to unsettle me as a person.
“The longer it went on and the more people I spoke to the more I realised that these were personal attacks and that there were certain agendas that were trying to be driven.
“I am comfortable with my relationships at Manly.” Asked if those agendas included bringing him down as Manly skipper, Cherry-Evans replied: “Yes, there probably were. That is probably the reality of the situation … is that people wanted that (him sacked as captain.
