The Manly Sea Eagles have offered veteran halfback Daly Cherry-Evans a two-year contract in hopes of retaining him at the club. This news comes as a surprise to the National Rugby League (NRL) after Cherry-Evans previously announced he would be departing at the end of the year after 15 seasons with the Sea Eagles.

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Manly Sea Eagles CEO Tony Mestrov stated at a press conference on Tuesday morning that the club still hopes the 36-year-old will remain at Brookvale Oval. "Daly is a legend of the club, he's played more games for the club than anyone else and he's entitled to stay and play for the club," Mestrov said. "If Daly is going to continue playing in the NRL, we want him to be playing for the Manly Sea Eagles."

Mestrov also denied any claims of a rift between Cherry-Evans and coach Anthony Seibold or the club's management, stating that the club was not caught off guard by Cherry-Evans' announcement on Monday night. "There's no animosity between Daly and the club. I spoke to Daly before this press conference today," Mestrov said. "There's no issue between Daly and the club, there's no issue between Daly and myself, and there's no issue between Daly and the coach."

Mestrov also revealed that Cherry-Evans first told the club at a meeting late last year that 2025 would be his last season playing for Manly, and denied the club had made any offers to the veteran prior to Tuesday. "He didn't know whether he wanted to retire. We offered him a coaching role," Mestrov said. "We had discussions in October and November about an offer. Daly said, 'I'm not sure if I want to retire or go overseas, but this will be my last year at Manly.'"

Cherry-Evans himself stated that the whole process has been "very strange" since news broke of his impending departure, and stated that he would not be accepting the offer. "To be honest, no," Cherry-Evans said on Nine's 100% Footy program when asked if he would accept the offer. "I've been contemplating this decision since December last year. After speaking with my family, we're comfortable with the decision. We're at peace with the decision." He added, "We understand it's not going to please everyone. There's going to be a lot of Manly fans very disappointed with it. I understand that."

Cherry-Evans stated that he had not received an offer from the Sea Eagles prior to this, and denied that the club was trying to lowball him on his salary. Instead, the Manly captain claimed that he had tested the waters with other clubs late last year, but with no rival offers forthcoming, the Sea Eagles also saw no need to do so. Cherry-Evans said, "Based on all the reports last week, I felt like it was starting to become regular news, rather than news I like." He added, "So I thought the best thing I could do for the situation was let everyone know where it was at and where it's been at for a while."

The Dolphins are understood to be interested in speaking to Cherry-Evans about a move to Redcliffe if he intends to switch clubs, AAP has learned. St. George Illawarra Dragons and Sydney Roosters are also expected to be other clubs interested in the halfback, along with Canterbury Bulldogs. Cherry-Evans stated that his preference remains to continue playing rugby league in 2026. "I definitely want to keep playing," Cherry-Evans said. "I love the game, I love playing footy. Game day is the best day of the week for me."

Cherry-Evans has played 333 games for the club since leading Manly to a premiership title in 2011. He remains one of the best halfbacks in the league. His departure would be a major blow to the Sea Eagles, who have a significant lack of talent in the pipeline to organize their attack. They have already signed teenage player Joey Walsh, but he is currently playing in his first season back in rugby league, having previously captained the Australian under-18s rugby union side.