Daly Cherry-Evans viewed as possible Titans captain
DALY Cherry-Evans will be considered for Gold Coast’s captaincy next year after coach Neil Henry declared the halfback was recruited for his leadership qualities.
With Titans skipper Nate Myles headed to Manly next season, the door is open for Cherry-Evans to come to the Gold Coast as their marquee signing and captain next season.
Manly have reportedly made an upgraded offer to keep Cherry-Evans at the Sea Eagles and want a resolution to this saga within two weeks, giving the Titans an anxious wait for final confirmation he will be their man next year.
Henry said he was confident Cherry-Evans had not changed his mind and viewed the 26-year-old as a captain of the club next year.
“He was recruited as a potential leader and is a leader anyway,” Henry said.
“He has shown that leadership, it’s no different for him and he would certainly be part of our leadership group and he has been signed to be one of our main players in that role so that doesn’t change.’’
Myles yesterday declared he would not try to convince Cherry-Evans to stay at Manly, despite claims from Sea Eagles coach Geoff Toovey those discussions would be taking place.
If Cherry-Evans did change his mind, it would put Myles in a very volatile position with the club and fans who would be convinced the Titans skipper had played a role in losing the highest-profile recruit in club history.
Myles wants to end his time at the club on good terms and is committed to performing at his best for the Titans for the remainder of the season, starting today against Cronulla at Cbus Super Stadium.
“My focus is about tomorrow’s game and moving forward during the season,” Myles said.
“It was a little bit embarrassing in a lot of departments last week and we need to bounce back.
“I think something we didn’t take into last week was aggressive running and we need to be on with that and we have to start with our defence.’’
Henry is confident Myles will step up his performances now that his future is sorted.
“Nate is professional enough to get on with the job and he prides himself on his leadership and his performance so I don’t think it will be a hindrance at all,” Henry said.
Titans winger Anthony Don and centre Will Zillman had been in doubt for today’s game due to niggling injuries but both completed training yesterday and will face the Sharks.
Henry said the Titans had addressed the issues that saw them concede 10 tries and miss 42 tackles in the 56-16 thumping from Canberra.
“We’ve had a focus on what went wrong last week defensively and a lot of lack of effort at times. It was more structurally some poor reads opened up space,” he said.
“We had a look at our structure and what we need to do against the Sharks.
“We can’t dwell on 10 tries last week, we just have to worry about a Cronulla side leading into a bye and get another win at home.’’
http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/da...e-titans-captain/story-fndv2zxt-1227356756739
