THEIR premiership-winning halfback has just signed with Canberra two years after being ushered out the door at Manly.
But Sea Eagles captain Jamie Lyon and five-eighth Kieran Foran are convinced rookie No. 7 Daly Cherry-Evans is the man to lead the side around the park in 2011.
Even if means a dose of groundhog day at Brookvale.
A year after rookie Trent Hodkinson was thrust into the No. 7, 21-year-old Cherry-Evans will give the Sea Eagles yet another NRL greenhorn playmaker and once again leave the 2008 premiers with the youngest halves in the competition.
But as the Redcliffe junior prepares for the debut he's been patiently awaiting for four years, Lyon predicts the rookie is ready to eclipse even the impact of Hodkinson, who played for City after just eight NRL appearances.
"They are different sorts of players, but I think he'll have just as big an impact as Trent, if not bigger," Lyon said following a gruelling sprint and gym session at the Sea Eagles' Narrabeen base. "I don't want to put too much pressure on him, but we're quietly confident he can do a great job."
Cherry-Evans spent 2010 biding his time with the Eagles' Queensland Cup feeder side, Sunshine Coast, where he won the player of the year, just as Hodkinson did in 2009. And the busy playmaker is confident his apprenticeship has made him ready for the step up.
It also means rekindling his scrumbase partnership with Kiwi international Foran after the pair led Manly's 2009 Toyota Cup team to the minor premiership.
When former captain Orford moved to England last year, Cherry-Evans was overlooked for Hodkinson in the Eagles' top 25.
And in a strange way Hodkinson's success has paved the way. "It's definitely given me confidence," Cherry-Evans said. "He's sort of done the same path as me so I can only hope I can go as well as him."
Cherry-Evans admits he was disappointed to miss the NRL last year.
"But in hindsight now that I've done those years in Toyota Cup and the Queensland Cup I think I'm definitely prepared well," he said.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/daly-cherry-evans-ripe-for-the-big-time/story-e6frexnr-1225986538366
