Daly Cherry-Evans at centre of Manly furore as fresh details emerge
The dramas engulfing the Manly Sea Eagles show no signs of slowing down, with reports emerging that only half the players showed up to a Mad Monday celebration this week.
The Sea Eagles finished the season with seven-straight losses, falling to 11th on the ladder with a 9-15 record.
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Unsurprisingly, they didn't win a single game after the 'pride jersey' fiasco in Round 20 that divided the playing group down the middle.
Multiple reports have since emerged about how fractured the playing group is, with the clearest evidence coming on Sunday at Brookvale Oval.
The club organised a 'Mad Monday' celebration for the players, but only half of them turned up.
“They are completely fractured,” Phil Rothfield said on NRL 360 on Monday night.
“They had their Mad Monday on Sunday after the Canterbury loss.
"They were all supposed to turn up at Brookvale oval for a beer and a drink and a get together. Half didn’t show up.”
Rothfield said captain Daly Cherry-Evans was in attendance, but the club wasn't willing to reveal the players who weren't there.
Daly Cherry-Evans at centre of bombshell reports
Bombshell reports emerged earlier on Monday that there is resentment towards Cherry-Evans stemming back to last season.
Ray Hadley revealed on 2GB radio that the captain was allowed to live outside the team's bubble when the competition moved to Queensland in 2021 due to the Covid situation in NSW.
Cherry-Evans was granted permission to stay with his family away from the playing group, which some saw as 'preferential treatment'.
“We all know that last year, first of all the players went into a bubble and a number of clubs went into Twin Waters in the Sunshine Coast,” Hadley said.
“I think Penrith were among the clubs that went there, Manly certainly went there, Newcastle went there and maybe the Roosters were there at a time as well.
“Manly were there as well, they went there, when restrictions were eased the families were exported from NSW to spend time with the players and be housed in a location where fathers had access to children and their wives, partners and things like that.
“On the Sunshine Coast, Manly were there with other NSW based teams there was apparently special dispensation given to the skipper Daly Cherry-Evans to live away from the bubble in a house.
“Completely legal but that didn’t go down too well with other players, whose wives and family were living in close vicinity to where they were.
“You had the coach allowing the captain to be special and live in a house away from the rest of the players and that created a divide and I’ve confirmed that with a number of players.
“They tell me that it created a divide and that divide was well before the rainbow jumper round, well before it.
“To try and trace it back to happening around the rainbow jumper round is ridiculous, it happened when Des Hasler decided as the coach to allow the captain to live elsewhere and some of the players were upset about it and continue to be upset about it."
Rothfield suggested on Monday night that the club needed a change in leadership, with Jake Trbojevic the man put forward to take the reins.
“(Cherry-Evans) is an aloof sort of character so when there are problems like the pride jersey or tactics or form or Des and they want to discuss it he’s not as approachable as someone like Jake Trboejvic," he said.
“This is why there is a push for Jake to take over.
“I don’t think it’s any secret that he has relationship problems with a lot of the football side."
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