Huge DCE question yet to be answered as retiring star’s hidden strength revealed

"I'll be off next year. The incentive is to leave it all out there".

A soft-spoken Daly Cherry-Evans faced the media throng at Allianz Stadium to start grand final week and stated he won't be holding back this Sunday night as the curtain closes on his decorated 379-game NRL career.

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It'll potentially finish on a massive high as it deserves to, but irrespective of the result, Sunday's grand final will bring an end to one of the more illustrious careers of the modern era.

Cherry-Evans is off to Super League club Hull FC next season where he'll likely end his playing career before hanging up the boots.

Facing reporters at the start of the week, an introspective Cherry-Evans reflected on his 16 years in the league.

He spent some of the 20 minute all-in interview speaking about his last appearance in a grand final in 2013. Manly Sea Eagles v Sydney Roosters.

At this point, Cherry-Evans was two years removed from winning a premiership in his rookie season. At just 24, the Sea Eagles No. 7 was considered one of the game's best halfbacks and had already represented Australia and Queensland.

Unfortunately for 'DCE' and the Sea Eagles, they'd fall short in a 26-18 loss. However, in a shock subplot, Cherry-Evans became just the fourth player to be announced the Clive Churchill Medal winner in a losing side.

While Cherry-Evans admitted he was "proud to have a small part of the game's history", he'd trade the individual award for a second premiership ring in a heartbeat.

13 years later, he'll finally get the chance to add that second title he's been so desperate for to his CV.

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THE GUTSY MOVE

It's been a long time between drinks.

Soon after Manly's loss in that 2013 decider, a popular thought was that it wouldn't be too long before Cherry-Evans is back in another grand final.

It didn't pan out that way.

The Sea Eagles appeared in ten finals games and won only three of them from that October night 13 years ago until Cherry-Evans left the club at the end of last season.

"There were a few lean years there and it gives you a strong appreciation for the times you play in a finals series, let alone a grand final," Cherry-Evans said this week.

It was thought that Cherry-Evans would be a one-club man. Following a Sea Eagles win over Canberra last year, no one expected what would come of the next 24-48 hours.

Cherry-Evans revealed he wanted out in what would arguably turn out to be the biggest NRL news story in 2025.

The Roosters were always the club Cherry-Evans was linked to but that wouldn't become official until the end of the season when the competition's worst kept secret was confirmed.

As Roosters coach Trent Robinson noted this week, you wouldn't have blamed Cherry-Evans for wanting to retire a one-club man.

"I think the first thing is just even the courage that he showed," Robinson said on SEN radio.

"It's so easy to finish your career, a legend at Manly and walk out; surely that's the right thing to do.

"Then he made a choice which wasn't going to be popular outside of the Roosters.

"It was going to be, why would you do that? You have to do this as a legend player and all of that.

"And he said, I want to sprint to the end; that was his decision. So, he made a really tough choice, and then that makes it really clear about why you play the game."

To some, Cherry-Evans leaving the Sea Eagles for another NRL club dented the champion halfback's legacy.

It would be a train of thought hard to argue with if his single season at the Roosters went pear-shaped.

However, the move has turned out to be a masterstroke.

MEDIA PERFORMER

While he's been a media lightning rod for the majority of his career, Cherry-Evans is an absolute pro when dealing with the press.

Every answer is measured, articulate and calculated but he rarely drops predictable sound bites.

There was plenty of friction between Cherry-Evans and the media back in 2015 after his highly-publicised call to backflip on a deal with the Titans to stay in Manly but it's been mostly smooth sailing since.

Fox League's Matt Russell believes how Cherry-Evans has handled the media has been one of the halfback's underrated strengths.

"I remember dealing with him when he was back playing under 20s, the old Toyota Cup into the Holden Cup, and even back then he handled himself really well," Russell said.

"It's not easy having multiple people standing in front of you, throwing questions and often looking to create the story, the content that they need to cut through in this crowded media environment, and he's got to stand there individually and handle all this.

"I think he's done a magnificent job. If you say he is a bit too much like a politician. Well, that's his right, and if that's his way to survive as long as he had, then good luck to him.

"The fact that he continues to front up is a strength. I suppose if I'm ever going to be critical of someone, it's when they have an issue to confront and they hide in the shadows or get shielded by their media manager. I don't think Daly Cherry-Evans has very often done that."

THE CRONK COMPARISONS

It's easy to draw comparisons between Cherry-Evans and Cooper Cronk's moves to the Roosters.

Cronk left Melbourne and won two premierships in his only two years (2018, 2019) in Bondi before retiring. Cherry-Evans is hoping to achieve that same strike rate in his sole season.

Cherry-Evans, who revealed Cronk was a player who "inspired" him throughout his career, understands the similarities but notes the situations are different.

"I definitely can understand what the storylines are. We're in different teams; there are some players that are still there, but the players that he played with are now the senior players, so that relationship would be very different," Cherry-Evans said.

"I completely understand it, but it's one of those things that I don't really get anything out of jumping into that conversation.

"One thing I do know is that Cooper Cronk as a halfback is someone that inspired me throughout my career because of how good he was and how successful he was.

"What he did here, when I walked in, I was inspired by. Coops has always been in the background throughout my career, whether he knows it or not, inspiring me.

"We don't have a behind-the-scenes relationship, but he has reached out on occasion to show his support, which has been really nice."

Former Roosters star Luke Keary, who partnered Cronk in the halves in those two grand final wins, sees parallels between his former teammate and Cherry-Evans.

He believes that whatever happens on Sunday won't define Cherry-Evans, but says being able to win premierships at two different clubs will be a big notch on his belt.

"We saw what Cooper got to do those last couple of years, he's got the same opportunity to lead that team now and then win a comp in his last season with them," Keary said.

"It won't cement his legacy but it just puts a nice bow tie on a really good career and proves I guess you've gone somewhere else, done something different, worked with different people and got them over the line."

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WHAT WILL HIS LEGACY BE?

Cherry-Evans can join Cronk and a rare group of starting halfbacks to win premierships at two different clubs if the Roosters salute this weekend.

That sort of achievement can't be overstated given the 118-year history of the competition but what will 'DCE' the player be remembered as?

Cronk says Cherry-Evans' professionalism, longevity and an ability to evolve over time stand out for him.

"In 2011 he was a halfback that won a comp. He was a line breaker, he had the Stewart brothers and Jamie Lyon around and then now in his last year the NRL, he's playing for the Roosters, which play a completely different style to what it was in 2011 for the Manly Sea Eagles," Cronk told foxsports.com.au.

"I don't think anyone can argue that he hasn't contributed to the Roosters this year. The most of his work he's done from Monday to Friday is in around those team meetings and helping others fast track their development."

According to Keary, it's Cherry-Evans' remarkable durability which has left him in awe.

It's a stunning statistic.

Cherry-Evans has played in at least 19 games in every single one of his 16 seasons in the NRL including 26 out of 27 games this year.

"Even for myself, that was one of the hardest things, just to stay healthy, and he's not a huge guy and he's been able to be so durable," Keary said.

"It's like Cooper (Cronk) in many ways. They have both been able to stay healthy. Both very consistent.

"He's also adapted his game. I remember when he first came in because I played SG Ball when he was in the Under 20s at Manly and he was a real runner of the footy, more like a five-eighth type player and he's just slowly had to adapt his game as the game's changed and reinvent himself a couple of times and still being able to perform is just so hard to do.

"There's not many that play that many games and do it in different ways as a runner and as a ballplayer and even to hold himself defensively for such a long period of time, it's a difficult thing to do."