‘Out of respect’: Cherry-Evans adamant he only signed with Roosters two weeks ago

It was one of the worst-kept secrets in rugby league that Daly Cherry-Evans had signed with the Roosters, but the former Sea Eagles skipper is sticking to the company line that he only signed two weeks ago to “respect” his old club.

Cherry-Evans had been expected to stay a one-club player in the NRL and retire at Manly, but he shocked the rugby league world in March by announcing he would be leaving at the end of the season. Not even a (frankly desperate) on-air offer from Manly’s boss on NRL 360 could change his mind either, and he hit free agency before a ball was kicked.

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The 352-game veteran, who had debuted with Manly in 2011, was quickly linked with a glamour move to the Roosters, with mail from both camps suggesting he’d put pen to paper as early as May and was holding off announcing.

Not so, says DCE this week: All that gossip from the media was only gossip, apparently.

“I at different stages, made sure that I was really clear on what I wanted to do. I only signed, despite what you guys [the media] think, two weeks ago,” he said. “I don’t think you’ve actually really decided until you’ve put pen to paper. I was just like anyone else off contract, I spoke to clubs this time last year when I was officially able to talk to people.

“I treated that process like everyone else. It was just everyone else wanted me to tell them what I was doing before I was ready to do it.

“Even if I had made my decision during the year, the best thing wasn’t to announce it out of respect to the fans. We often talk about how hard it is for fans to look at their players and not treat them differently when they know they’re going somewhere else.

“Having that in mind, I actually felt like it was the most respectful thing.”

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As for why he picked the Roosters — he has been linked to them as a chance for one last NRL title before he retires — Cherry-Evans said there wasn’t any one particular factor that had swayed him. Really, the only thing that he did touch on was that he was never going to leave Sydney because it would have uprooted his family for a short-term deal.

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“There was a lot that went with it, then there was the footy element as well. The Roosters are a club that I’ve admired from afar for a long time. They’ve had great success through my career,” he said.

“Within that, a lot has stayed the same from the top down when it comes to the people that make the decisions here, and Trent [Robinson] being the coach. The playing group has changed a little bit, but that’s also excited me, where the playing group’s at.

“The longer it went, the more I got a chance to look and watch and from there get more confidence not just in where I was going but how I could help. I honestly couldn’t tell you it was one thing; it was a combination of things.

“I wanted to make sure with a big decision like this, it was the right thing for everyone.”