Cherry-Evans mulling whether he wants to play on past this year

Daly Cherry-Evans may be heading into his final year in the NRL after backflipping on plans to play on beyond this campaign.

The Sea Eagles skipper originally told the club he was interested in playing on beyond his 2025 deal but then organised a meeting in December to tell officials he wasn’t so sure anymore.

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Heading into February, the 35-year-old is still sitting high up on the fence.

He’s expected to stay there for the time being too, with The Sporting Base understanding Cherry-Evans wants to see how his body holds up not only through the preseason but a few rounds into comp play too.

Though money isn’t really factoring into the captain’s decision, there are some elements at work there too. He’s earned up to $1 million a year through the last several seasons but considering where Manly’s cap is for 2026 and beyond he’d have to take a fairly sizeable pay cut should he still be on the top 30 roster.

Should “DCE” actually call time, Tom Trbojevic may swap to five-eighth.

That would open the door for young gun Lehi Hopoate to take up a long-term deal.

Who would play No.7 is a whole lot less clear though; a puzzle piece that the north Sydney club expects it would solve once DCE actually decides what he’s going to be doing one way or the other.

The last time Cherry-Evans had to make a decision like this he originally picked the Gold Coast Titans before backflipping to sign an extended Manly deal that stretched a decade.

“This probably doesn’t look very honourable, the actions I’ve taken over the last 48 hours, and I understand that,” he said at the time. “But there’s only one thing that could’ve changed the honour of my word and that’s how important my family is to me.”

At the time, it was described as a “lifetime contract” — and that’s pretty much proven true.