The Daly Cherrygraph

[QueefRichards]

DCE in origin I played the same level as he did for Manly, except with his teammates taking away the game management from him. He cramped his outside men with crabbing, double pumping and crap passes, took a run-first approach that paid off with a set piece. Hunt, Grant and Munster were steering Queensland around, DCE was merely secondary to them.

P.s. Cleary was rubbish but who cares. We want our players playing at their best and learning from their mistakes, Clearys form is penriths problem

 

[HK_Eagle]

DCE in origin I played the same level as he did for Manly, except with his teammates taking away the game management from him. He cramped his outside men with crabbing, double pumping and crap passes, took a run-first approach that paid off with a set piece. Hunt, Grant and Munster were steering Queensland around, DCE was merely secondary to them.

P.s. Cleary was rubbish but who cares. We want our players playing at their best and learning from their mistakes, Clearys form is penriths problem

Oh thank farrrk for some intelligence.

 

[BOZO]

Perspective time, my dysfunctional delusional feathered friend… what has the great QLDer DCE taken us to since his first year carried by a star studded set team in 2011? DCE will be a million dollar champion when surrounded by class. Ironically, his own selfish pursuit will see him never be surrounded by such class. Karma for him and karma for Manly.

Delusional Perspective for some on here
that have no idea

Where has DCE taken us since his rookie 2011 Grand final winning debut
Not bad for a rookie who handled the pressure like a pro

2012 top 4

2013 grand final Man of the match clive churhill medal winner in a losing team and best player on the field that included Minichello , Sonny Bill cordner . Foran , Snake , Lyon , Gifty

2014 top 2
2017 top 6
2019 top 6


I will finish with a song to praise a champion that keeps bouncing back
and keeps proving the Delusional Doubters wrong

We'll be singing
When we're winning
We'll be singing
When were winning

DCE gets knocked down
But he will get up again
You're never going to keep him down
DCE gets knocked down
But he will get up again
You're never going to keep him down
DCE gets knocked down
But he will get up again
You're never going to keep him down

 

[HK_Eagle]

Delusional Perspective for some on here
that have no idea

Where has DCE taken us since his rookie 2011 Grand final winning debut
Not bad for a rookie who handled the pressure like a pro

2012 top 4

2013 grand final Man of the match clive churhill medal winner in a losing team and best player on the field that included Minichello , Sonny Bill cordner . Foran , Snake , Lyon , Gifty

2014 top 2
2017 top 6
2019 top 6


I will finish with a song to praise a champion that keeps bouncing back
and keeps proving the Delusional Doubters wrong

We'll be singing
When we're winning
We'll be singing
When were winning

DCE gets knocked down
But he will get up again
You're never going to keep him down
DCE gets knocked down
But he will get up again
You're never going to keep him down
DCE gets knocked down
But he will get up again
You're never going to keep him down

My apologies, Bozo. While I have a view on the DCE situation, my post was narky and didn’t need to be.

 

[KaZa]

Delusional Perspective for some on here
that have no idea

Where has DCE taken us since his rookie 2011 Grand final winning debut
Not bad for a rookie who handled the pressure like a pro

2012 top 4

2013 grand final Man of the match clive churhill medal winner in a losing team and best player on the field that included Minichello , Sonny Bill cordner . Foran , Snake , Lyon , Gifty

2014 top 2
2017 top 6
2019 top 6


I will finish with a song to praise a champion that keeps bouncing back
and keeps proving the Delusional Doubters wrong

We'll be singing
When we're winning
We'll be singing
When were winning

DCE gets knocked down
But he will get up again
You're never going to keep him down
DCE gets knocked down
But he will get up again
You're never going to keep him down
DCE gets knocked down
But he will get up again
You're never going to keep him down

What about the other years? He's inconsistent. Snake and co carried him in his early career. Unfortunately he's not good enough to control a game. Not saying he's not gifted. He has his moments and days where he is unplayable. But it's few and far in between for my liking. For someone in that money.. we could buy half the price and have money left over for a gun centre or prop.

 

[Eagle 1]

What about the other years? He's inconsistent. Snake and co carried him in his early career. Unfortunately he's not good enough to control a game. Not saying he's not gifted. He has his moments and days where he is unplayable. But it's few and far in between for my liking. For someone in that money.. we could buy half the price and have money left over for a gun centre or prop.

We pay Evans 1.2m per season, yet he comes up with the dumb plays that has everybody scratching their heads in disbelief. It's really only his kicking game that he showcases now, the rest is 2nd tier stuff.

 

[Rocky]

T

Arguing how good DCE plays is subjective.

However, I doubt there is anyone on this forum that would argue DCE deserves to be the highest paid player in NRL.

His presence on such a large percentage of the cap has left the squad lacking in other areas. This year compounded by him unable to be playing off arguably the best fullback in the game who is injured.

I believe he is a top 5 halfback whose inconsistency between best and worst games puts him in this position….

That’s fine that he’s a top 5 halfback… but for $1.25m a year, you need more.

Improvements will come in our squad when some of his cap percentage is better allocated.

That's the thing - the difference between his floor and ceiling in terms of his Manly performances is just too wide.

To be great you have to be consistent. And we never know whether DCE will turn up with a 2/10 performance or a 9/10.

Guys like Cleary and Reynolds at least give you a 6 or 7 out of 10 at their worst.

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

I believe he is a top 5 halfback whose inconsistency between best and worst games puts him in this position….

That’s fine that he’s a top 5 halfback… but for $1.25m a year, you need more.

Improvements will come in our squad when some of his cap percentage is better allocated.

I can't recall ever seeing as much anti-DCE vitriol as I have in the last few days, some of it (not yours Batty) is so over the top it is quite hilarious and not worth bothering with. As I say, not yours, your comment is reasonable and moderate. However, couple of quick questions for you:

• If we've had such underwhelming results with a top 5 halfback, how bad would we have been if we had a 6th 8th or 10th ranked hafback? Or worse?
• Alternatively, how much would we have had to pay to get a top 3 halfback (whoever you think that was at the time, or at any time)? (And please let's not pretend we could ever have signed Cronk or Thurston or Cleary for less than closer to 2 million per year).
• And lastly ... why do you say our salary cap situation will improve after DCE is gone? It's the Manly club that has planned our cap strategy. Why would that suddenly change?

(and by the way! Although I'm probably seen as a DCE defender that is not the case, I defend him against some criticisms but by no means all of them)

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

• If we've had such underwhelming results with a top 5 halfback, how bad would we have been if we had a 6th 8th or 10th ranked hafback? Or worse?
• Alternatively, how much would we have had to pay to get a top 3 halfback (whoever you think that was at the time, or at any time)? (And please let's not pretend we could ever have signed Cronk or Thurston or Cleary for less than closer to 2 million per year).
• And lastly ... why do you say our salary cap situation will improve after DCE is gone? It's the Manly club that has planned our cap strategy. Why would that suddenly change?

I'll jump in here, if I may, SER8:

• Just as bad, maybe worse. But that's kind of the point. We could have enjoyed the same number of premierships (ie, a big fat zero) since 2011 with pretty much any halfback, including my elderly grandmother, leading the team around. Cherry is paid as much as he's paid not just to win us games but to win us the title - or at the very least to make us title contenders. With the exception of 2013, we haven't been close.
• If we didn't have Cherry, we might not necessarily have chased a "top 3" halfback to replace him. Maybe we would have tried to develop one. Maybe we would have settled for a lesser light. Hard to know because he's been part of the furniture (and a very high-priced part at that) for such a long time.
• As long as we don't pay whoever replaces Cherry (and eventually - unless we keep giving him contracts into his 40s and 50s - somebody is going to have to replace him) the same percentage of the salary cap we're paying Cherry now, we should be in a better position to spend more on the rest of the team.

 

[Damien2812]

Hopefully he makes the same error for QLD and the Blues go the distance to win the game. 👍

 

[SeaEagleRock8]

I'll jump in here, if I may, SER8:

• Just as bad, maybe worse. But that's kind of the point. We could have enjoyed the same number of premierships (ie, a big fat zero) since 2011 with pretty much any halfback, including my elderly grandmother, leading the team around. Cherry is paid as much as he's paid not just to win us games but to win us the title - or at the very least to make us title contenders. With the exception of 2013, we haven't been close.
• If we didn't have Cherry, we might not necessarily have chased a "top 3" halfback to replace him. Maybe we would have tried to develop one. Maybe we would have settled for a lesser light. Hard to know because he's been part of the furniture (and a very high-priced part at that) for such a long time.
• As long as we don't pay whoever replaces Cherry (and eventually - unless we keep giving him contracts into his 40s and 50s - somebody is going to have to replace him) the same percentage of the salary cap we're paying Cherry now, we should be in a better position with the cap when that time comes.

Good points.
Just on the option 'might have tried to develop one' (a top 3 half) - not very easy to do, they are scarce as hens teeth. Eg we had Hynes and didn't see his potential (and he's still not proven as a top 3 half), we had Cust. Elgey? In fact only one club has developed a top 3 half since Cleary debuted way back in 2016. Croft, Nikorima, Taylor, Flanagan, on it goes. The list of next-big-things-that-weren't is long and painful

 

[Budgie]

Funny the comments about the vitriol. There is no doubt he is a polarising player. Some see him as a very well spoken hero while others see him as a bit of an overrated fake.
While I've cheered on his field goals and 40 20s, I've never warmed to him like I have to so many Manly players over the years.
For me this year has been the worst with him now completely ruining the attack and defence on his side of the field. Sure he's Queensland captain but I'm not sure that they have a whole lot of options for half and I think others in the team create all the opportunity.
He shouldn't be the highest paid player in the game, let alone our club, and sure I know that's not his fault , blah, blah blah.

This might seem like a minor point but he really sealed it for me when he didn't turn up to the fan training the day before the Tiger's game. Yes I know he had a cork, yada yada, but he is the club captain and surely representing the club to fans, kids in particular, is a part of the captain's job. You wouldn't have been able to keep Jake away.

I find it hard to believe that in 50 years of supporting the club that I've had to endure this headless chook for 20% of that time. I was hopeful that it was almost over but, yep, extended. Great.

 

[Ron E. Gibbs]

Good points.
Just on the option 'might have tried to develop one' (a top 3 half) - not very easy to do, they are scarce as hens teeth. Eg we had Hynes and didn't see his potential (and he's still not proven as a top 3 half), we had Cust. Elgey? In fact only one club has developed a top 3 half since Cleary debuted way back in 2016. Croft, Nikorima, Taylor, Flanagan, on it goes. The list of next-big-things-that-weren't is long and painful

Agree, mate. Good halves are hard to find and will always be valued higher than other players. It's why Ash Taylor, Anthony Milford and even Kane Elgey were given big contracts. It's also why clubs tend to hang onto their halves (with the possible exception of Souths) even though it'd be better for the player and the club to part ways (eg, Luke Brooks). And it's definitely why Manly became panic buyers for DCE's services once it became apparent that we could lose both our champion halves in Foran and DCE - especially after we'd lost Des and most of his staff to the Bulldogs. It made sense at the time, I guess. But it's made less sense as time has gone on.

 

[Pete W]

I can't recall ever seeing as much anti-DCE vitriol as I have in the last few days, some of it (not yours Batty) is so over the top it is quite hilarious and not worth bothering with. As I say, not yours, your comment is reasonable and moderate. However, couple of quick questions for you:

• If we've had such underwhelming results with a top 5 halfback, how bad would we have been if we had a 6th 8th or 10th ranked hafback? Or worse?
• Alternatively, how much would we have had to pay to get a top 3 halfback (whoever you think that was at the time, or at any time)? (And please let's not pretend we could ever have signed Cronk or Thurston or Cleary for less than closer to 2 million per year).
• And lastly ... why do you say our salary cap situation will improve after DCE is gone? It's the Manly club that has planned our cap strategy. Why would that suddenly change?

(and by the way! Although I'm probably seen as a DCE defender that is not the case, I defend him against some criticisms but by no means all of them)

I think the penny has finally dropped. For years we all excused his awful performances because he had no 5/8 remember? Literally the only point of attack, he was pressured and targeted so easily by oppositions that laying any sort of blame on him seemed unfair and unjustified. With Foran back, nothing has actually changed with DCE. With the exception of a great long kicking game (shame he can't get repeat sets with a non-existent short kicking game), the clutch field goal from right in front, and the 2 or 3 40/20s a season, it's the same crap we've seen for years. 0 composure, 0 game management, 0 leadership.

Extending Cherry, and letting go of Foz (even Walker) for mine is just unacceptable decision making in terms of value, culture, and straight up footy. Nothing personal against him, but unfortunately when I look at him these days, he is now become just a reminder, a symbol, of Manly's demise over the last decade

 

[hozza]

Dce is deadset like a Koala- a protected species. Why I have no idea.
He’s outlasted Toovey
He’s outlasted Barrett
And will probably outlast Des.

Yet the media don’t mention it? WTF

First coach to drop him or boot him will win us a Premiership again, question is who will see through his smarmy suck up shiiiite. And overrated ability??

 

[QueefRichards]

I think the penny has finally dropped. For years we all excused his awful performances because he had no 5/8 remember? Literally the only point of attack, he was pressured and targeted so easily by oppositions that laying any sort of blame on him seemed unfair and unjustified. With Foran back, nothing has actually changed with DCE. With the exception of a great long kicking game (shame he can't get repeat sets with a non-existent short kicking game), the clutch field goal from right in front, and the 2 or 3 40/20s a season, it's the same crap we've seen for years. 0 composure, 0 game management, 0 leadership.

Extending Cherry, and letting go of Foz (even Walker) for mine is just unacceptable decision making in terms of value, culture, and straight up footy. Nothing personal against him, but unfortunately when I look at him these days, he is now become just a reminder, a symbol, of Manly's demise over the last decade

Getting Foran back at his price has been the best Manly signing since Jamie Lyon... really shows us where the value is in the halves and where it isn't

 

[KNUCKLES]

I wonder how Cleary is feeling ???

Maroons V NSW

Head to Head
DCE tackles 23 Cleary 20
DCE run metres 83 Cleary 49
DCE tackle busts 3 Cleary 2
DCE tries 1 Cleary Zero
DCE line breaks 1 Cleary Zero
Cleary and NSW losers DCE Hero

Hmmmm...
This needs to be revisited when the Australian team is named

 

[EOL now nesting on the GC]

ah **** it! let's just sign luke brooks and be done with it. He's only on 1.1million next year so a bargin compared to the most hated man on the planet!

History and fans' memories judge players sometimes in less than flattering lights.

My favorite manly player ever is Mic O'Connor. I grew up mesmerized by his ability and all-around skill. In their primes, it would be hard to separate both him and Jamie Lyon in my opinion. however, given his role in the superleague war, he's not very well-liked around these parts. I feel DCE gets the same treatment.

back on point thou. we have had some pretty rubbish years over the last 8 or 9 and I don't buy into the fact it's all one player's fault. The club dropped the ball when signing. just like they did with Des. They dropped the ball big time with twenty and we are only now recovering.

 

[Tragic Eagle]

Brooks like DCE is not a leader. IMO the problem is not with DCE's athletic ability, but rather it's what's going on in his head when he has ball in hand. His decision making and the points of a game when some are made is at times just awful. He needs to be reeled by the coach and to be required to provide early ball in space to those outside of him (Big O, Koula) and be banned from cutting back inside. If he doesn't follow instructions then bench him Des and use him a back up dummy half. Interestingly DCE does what he is told when he plays Origin where he plays a secondary role in attack and in game management. That is a good fit for him.

 

[Pete W]

ah **** it! let's just sign luke brooks and be done with it. He's only on 1.1million next year so a bargin compared to the most hated man on the planet!

History and fans' memories judge players sometimes in less than flattering lights.

My favorite manly player ever is Mic O'Connor. I grew up mesmerized by his ability and all-around skill. In their primes, it would be hard to separate both him and Jamie Lyon in my opinion. however, given his role in the superleague war, he's not very well-liked around these parts. I feel DCE gets the same treatment.

back on point thou. we have had some pretty rubbish years over the last 8 or 9 and I don't buy into the fact it's all one player's fault. The club dropped the ball when signing. just like they did with Des. They dropped the ball big time with twenty and we are only now recovering.

Obviously it's not one player's fault. You are right in that it is the club who screwed up majorly... but to double down and extend his contract at the expense of Foz is mind boggling