NRL icon Daly Cherry-Evans drops hint on future as Manly Sea Eagles exit announced

NRL icon Daly Cherry-Evans says the announcement of his exit from Manly Sea Eagles will buy him time to decide whether he wants to play on into 2026 or not.

Having turned 36 last month, Cherry-Evans has spent his entire first-grade career at club level to date with Manly.

Making his senior bow for the Sea Eagles back in March 2011, he’s now donned their shirt 332 times and will soon move into the top ten NRL appearance-makers of all-time.

The veteran half-back is off-contract, and speculation over his future has been heavy all season so far Down Under.

But that speculation has now been put to bed, at least partly, with confirmation that he won’t be extending his stay at Manly beyond the end of this year received following their 40-12 win against Canberra Raiders on Sunday.

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NRL icon Daly Cherry-Evans drops hint on future as Manly Sea Eagles exit confirmed

As well as his achievements in Manly colours, Redcliffe native Cherry-Evans has represented Queensland 25 times in State of Origin and has earned 21 caps for the Kangaroos on the international scene, winning the World Cup back in 2013.

Appearing on ‘100% Footy‘ after his departure from Manly was announced, the playmaker explained: “It certainly hasn’t been a decision that’s been made overnight, but I feel a lot better for letting everyone know about it.

“It’s not an easy decision, I’ve spent a lot of time there and (made) a lot of lifelong friends.

“The main reason for doing it is that I felt as my career is coming towards the end, I wanted to take my time (deciding what’s next), whether that’s retiring or playing on.

“By cutting ties with Manly, I felt it was the best way for me to have freedom throughout the year to choose. From there, they’re able to move on and find the next half-back for Manly.

“Just prior to Christmas, that’s when I was officially off-contract. We spoke to a couple of clubs and made Manly aware that was going to happen, and we’ve been in constant contact with them (Manly) the whole time, which has been really nice.

“There’s no animosity there, and there has been no formal offers from any other club. Manly said they weren’t going to offer anything unless another club offered something, so they didn’t need to offer anything (in the end).

“That gave me a lot of comfort to say the best decision for me is to sit back and take my time this year.”

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