Daly Cherry-Evans has worn a lot of jerseys in his life. Junior rugby league, representative football, State of Origin, Test matches. But for 15 years and 352 games, there was only one jersey that truly defined him — the maroon and white of the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
Now he wears red, white and blue. And he is still getting used to it.
In one of the most candid interviews of his decorated career, Cherry-Evans has opened up about the emotional weight of leaving Manly — the club where he grew up, built his legacy, and became the most capped player in their history — and what it has meant to start again at the Sydney Roosters at the age of 36.
“I’m very uncomfortable being in another club’s colours,” Cherry-Evans admitted. “But deep down I’m really satisfied with the decision and I know how much personal growth is going to be ahead of me.”
The Weight of Goodbye
Few departures in recent NRL history have carried the same emotional charge as Cherry-Evans’ exit from Brookvale. He joined Manly as a teenager, became their captain, their talisman, and ultimately the heartbeat of everything the club stood for on the field. To watch him pull on a different jersey — any different jersey — felt, to many Sea Eagles fans, like a fundamental shift in the order of things.
Cherry-Evans has not tried to minimise that.
“It was really emotional when I walked out for the last time,” he said. “Fifteen years at one club, having lifetime friends — it’s hard to let go of. But you remain friends forever.”
Those words carry particular weight given the circumstances of his departure. Cherry-Evans was not pushed out, not traded, not told his time was up. He was a free agent who made a deliberate choice to seek something new in the final chapter of his playing career. The decision, he says, was entirely his own — and he is firm about that.
“It’s easy for everyone to want to blame people at Manly for my departure,” he said. “But the reality is I didn’t get traded, I didn’t get swapped. I was a free agent and at the end of the season I made a decision to go somewhere else. I take responsibility for where I ended up.”
Why the Roosters?
The move raised eyebrows across the competition when it was announced. Cherry-Evans to the Roosters — a rival Sydney club, no less — felt almost incongruous for a man so synonymous with one of the NRL’s most tribal identities.
But the logic, when Cherry-Evans explains it, is straightforward. He wanted to challenge himself. He wanted to experience something different. And he wanted to test whether, at 36, there was still growth left in him as a footballer and as a person.
“I’m proud to be standing here as a Rooster,” he said, “and I’m also proud of my career at Manly. It was great to be part of that club’s history for so long.”
The move has also brought him into alignment with one of the game’s most respected coaches in Trent Robinson — a figure whose reputation for developing and maximising experienced players made the Roosters an attractive destination. The combination of Cherry-Evans’ game management and Sam Walker’s instinctive brilliance in the halves has already proven to be one of the competition’s more intriguing pairings in the early rounds of 2026.
The Hostile Reception
Not everyone welcomed Cherry-Evans’ arrival at the Roosters with warmth. His first return to Brookvale Oval in Round 3 was met with the kind of reception reserved for players who leave beloved clubs under complicated circumstances — loud, pointed, and unambiguous in its message.
Cherry-Evans handled it the only way he knows how: with the ball in hand. He was outstanding that afternoon, producing one of his finest individual performances of the season, and the Roosters won comfortably.
Afterwards, he allowed himself a quiet moment of satisfaction.
“Daly Cherry-Evans has the last laugh,” read one headline. He didn’t need to say a word.
What He Brings to the Roosters
Beyond the obvious football qualities — the kicking game, the game management, the leadership — Cherry-Evans brings something less quantifiable to Allianz Stadium: perspective.
In a squad that features several players at the beginning or middle of their careers, the presence of a 36-year-old who has won State of Origin series, captained Australia, and played over 350 NRL games provides a steadying influence that cannot be coached into existence. Robinson has spoken about the value of that experience in the halves alongside Walker. The results, through eight rounds, appear to be bearing that out.
Cherry-Evans is fifth all-time in NRL games played and still going. He may be uncomfortable in his new colours — but he is, by any measure, making them look good.
