Daly Cherry-Evans backflip: How Sea Eagles talked star halfback into staying at Manly
- DEAN RITCHIE
- THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
- JUNE 04, 2015 7:00PM
IT was at a private two-man meeting at a Narrabeen cafe where Daly Cherry-Evans realised he wanted to be a Sea Eagle for life.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal Cherry-Evans and club chief executive Joe Kelly met three weeks ago at Illie Cafe, on Pittwater Road, to discuss why the star halfback should forever remain at Brookvale.
Kelly felt obliged to explain why weeks earlier he had pulled an offer to Cherry-Evans after a signing deadline had passed. Cherry-Evans left Illie knowing he was again wanted at Brookvale.
“I wanted to tell him how much he meant to the club and how important he was to us rebuilding our roster,’’ Kelly said of the secret meeting.
“And how important he would be in us attracting players to the club.
“We also spoke about the first round of negotiations and what actually happened there.
“We laid to rest some of the rumour and innuendo and clearly articulated what actually happened at the time. Withdrawing the offer in the first place needed some more explanation. I gave that to Daly.”
Aside from Kelly, Manly strategic football consultant and club Immortal Bob Fulton and chairman Scott Penn played significant roles in retaining Cherry-Evans.
Kelly reveals the inside story behind’s Cherry-Evans sensational backflip in this exclusive interview.
THE CONVERSATIONS
Kelly poured months of hard work into the negotiations to retain Cherry-Evans — and finally got his man.
“We only we knew for certain in the last couple of days before the announcement, even then we were still working through the final details,” Kelly said.
“Up until that point, there had been dialogue and discussions and I had met with Daly personally, we discussed the past negotiations, etc. We have had our conversations via phone and messages. We were only really confident over the last couple of days prior to the announcement.’’
Daly Cherry-Evans arrives to announce his Manly deal. Picture: Gregg Porteous
THE DECISION
At 8.30am Wednesday, Cherry-Evans and his manager, Gavin Orr, marched into Kelly’s office ready to sign a record eight-year deal.
The contract was immediately lodged with the NRL.
“It was only Wednesday morning when I knew the deal was ultimately done,’’ Kelly said.
“We hastily arranged then for the press conference.”
THE DISHONOUR
Cherry-Evans is being accused of being dishonourable. And is being hammered on social media.
“We don’t make the rules. We are operating within the rules,” Kelly said.
“It’s not the first time it has happened. As long as you play by the rules, I can’t see any issue.
“I think he is copping a pasting (on social media) from supporters of other clubs but everyone at Manly is well and truly delighted he has stayed.”
THE HEARTBREAK
DCE stunned Manly fans by signing with Gold Coast. At that stage though, Manly had withdrawn their offer.
“We were disappointed — we knew what happened at the time, it is public that we actually withdrew the offer at that time,” Kelly said.
“What’s been lost in translation is the fact we never gave up retaining him. We wanted to get into round one of the season, take the offer off the table but recommence negotiations once we were into the season proper.
“Concerns leading into round one were around the negotiations and how public they had been. We wanted to put that behind the scenes and negotiate in private.
“We certainly didn’t expect two days after withdrawing the offer that Daly would sign with another club. The whole thing could have been handled better from both parties.”
THE CONTRACT
Is an eight-year contract excessive?
“What we are stating is that it’s a lifetime deal,” Kelly said.
“That will depend on whether his longevity in the game continues beyond a certain age.’’
THE COACH
Speculation mounts that Geoff Toovey will be replaced after this season by Panthers assistant coach Trent Barrett.
“Ultimately, we are not where we want to be on the ladder — but we are all in this together,” Kelly said.
“It is a business that is results-driven. Results in the long-term will determine outcomes,” Kelly said.
“It will ultimately be a board decision.”
Asked would Toovey see out his contract, Kelly said: “I don’t want to speculate beyond the end of the season.”
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...staying-at-manly/story-fnp0lyn3-1227383476654