Manly Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold believes Daly Cherry-Evans is yet to make a call over whether he will play on into 2026.
Cherry-Evans dropped a bombshell on the club ahead of this Sunday's clash with the Parramatta Eels, revealing he would not play for the Sea Eagles in 2026.
It's believed rival clubs, led by the St George Illawarra Dragons and Sydney Roosters, have expressed interest in the star, while the Dolphins are also reportedly in the mix, despite Kristian Woolf putting it on public record more than once that the club are not in negotiations.
It's understood Cherry-Evans could want a two-year deal if he does elect to play on, although it's unclear at this stage if any of those teams would offer him such terms.
But Seibold, speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald wasn't sure any of them would get to make a play, suggesting Cherry-Evans hasn't made a call on his future as yet.
โI feel Chez is very genuine with regards to him not knowing what he wants to do next," Seibold told the publication.
โDoes he want to play on? Next birthday he's 37. Could he play on? I think he probably could, but only he can answer that.
โAs a 36-year-old who has played 332 games for our club โ he's [also] played Origin and for Australia โ ultimately he gets to make that call.
โOf course people want to know [if and where he will play next], but I genuinely believe Chez hasn't made a decision about what he wants to do.
โWe're three rounds into a 27-round season. I think he should be able to make a decision on what he wants to do in his own time. It's a physical game.โ
Cherry-Evans has reportedly had his base market value set at just $400,000 for next season, although any of the clubs in competition for him would likely need to pay far more than that.
Manly were believed to be keeping a spot open for Cherry-Evans in case he elected to play on with the club, but may not have had the salary to compete with their rivals anyway, given the bloated nature of their own cap with big-money deals for the Trbojevic brothers and Haumole Olakau'atu leading the way.
The Sea Eagles are believed to be chasing Jamal Fogarty as a stop-gap measure to fill a void until Joey Walsh is reading for permanent first-grade action, while Tom Trbojevic moving to five-eighth has also been floated. Lehi Hopoate would take the fullback jumper, and Luke Brooks would move from the six to the seven in that instance.
