Crawley Files: Daly Cherry-Evans could take some lessons from Kieran Foran on the way to deal with negotiations
Paul Crawley The Daily Telegraph March 06, 2015 12:00AM
DALY Cherry-Evans is so popular at Manly that it’s rumoured someone gave him a new nickname over the summer — Yoko Ono — as in the person who broke up The Beatles.
That was before Cherry-Evans was even snapped heading to Cronulla with his partner Vessa and manager Gavin Orr to talk about his future, less than two weeks before Friday’s opening round grudge match against Parramatta.
Exactly a week before that Cherry-Evans checked himself out of the Gold Coast after a similar whirlwind romance.
What will be interesting to see is the reception the star halfback gets when he runs onto the field.
Not just from his own players, but fans from both clubs.
SHARKS OR TITANS? MANLY DITCH DCE OFFER
MANLY WON’T BE TREATED LIKE MUGS BY DCE
It was only a year ago Cherry-Evans was being talked up as the man most likely to replace Cameron Smith as the next Queensland and Australian captain.
Today it seems the entire rugby league world has turned against him in his chase for money.
Now Cherry-Evans has to win them back, starting with his football.
In the wake of Manly’s decision to take their offer off the table on Wednesday, social media went into meltdown with overwhelming support for Manly management for showing the guts to cut Cherry-Evans loose out of respect for their club.
Even fans from his most likely destinations at Cronulla and the Gold Coast were in uproar over the shameless way he has publicly gone about his business.
You are entitled to wonder just how much damage this has done to Cherry-Evans’ long-term reputation, and whether he will be a happy man when he finally gets the chance to sit down to count his millions.
What also makes his predicament even worse is the way some of the other players in this ongoing soap opera have handled themselves throughout a process that gets uglier by the day.
Kieran Foran has played it out like the man his teammates say he is.
His management are adamant that it was never about money, but trying to make sure his decision was based on what club could make him the best footballer.
It’s understood he had questions about where Manly was heading, but he always showed respect to the club that gave him his start.
They say he even refused to talk money with rivals clubs until he made a decision either way on whether he was staying or going, and he was filthy when it was leaked he’d decided on Parramatta.
But while Cherry-Evans released a statement saying he would shortly make a decision on his decision after completing “due diligence”, Foran didn’t say a word publicly.
Privately, those close to him say he has been living in a world of hurt, which was most evident at the Manly season launch when Foran stood on stage looking completely embarrassed by the attention.
The fact Manly have not withdrawn their offer for Foran, like they did with Cherry-Evans, also highlights a significant difference in the way they have both gone about their negotiations.
And while Anthony Watmough has had plenty to say since leaving Manly, the interview he did with Channel Nine on Monday night was telling.
It suggested Watmough had thought again about showing more respect to the club that helped get him where he is today.
Not just in league, but in life.
The word is Parramatta coach Brad Arthur put him straight on that.
No one will ever truly know the bitterness brothers Brett and Glenn Stewart must have felt after Glenn was basically overlooked for a new contract so Manly could save enough money to try and keep Cherry-Evans. But the way Brett and Glenn have gone about their parting is probably the best insight into their character.
Glenn moved on with dignity and class.
Meanwhile, Brett stayed at Manly and you can bet he will continue to be a matchwinner, saving his best for the biggest and toughest games like Friday’s.
Which takes us back to Cherry-Evans, a fine footballer, but what does the future now hold?
While he has been largely blamed for this circus, I’m betting it wasn’t Cherry-Evans who called Fox Sports News on his way to Cronulla recently to get the “money shot” of him and his partner meeting the Sharks.
So who was responsible for leaking that info, and has Cherry-Evans been given the best advice along the way? These are questions Cherry-Evans should be asking as he looks to answer how to fix this mess.
And in reference to the Yoko Ono nickname, it’s probably worth noting that only a couple of years back ex-Beatle Paul McCartney finally buried his rift with John Lennon’s partner when he said in an interview that “she certainly didn’t break the group up, the group was breaking up”. But that took the best part of 50 years for McCartney to admit.
Manly don’t have half a century to get over this with their new season kicking off on Friday.
Cherry-Evans’ long-term reputation can still be saved — but how he handles himself from this point on will decide that.
On and off the field.
Daly Cherry-Evans leaves Cronulla Leagues Club with his partner Vess Rockliff after talks of signing a new NRL contract. Pic Brett Costello
WHAT’S FINE
SO let’s get this right.
Wayne Bennett doesn’t get fined for saying he has “lost confidence” in the NRL integrity unit. But last year Paul Green was fined $10,000 for saying “we have no faith” in the NRL’s judiciary system.
While the two bodies are separate within the game, we are all entitled to wonder if Bennett’s standing was the reason he escaped sanction. Or was it just commonsense by the NRL on this occasion?
Which brings us to this ridiculous new rule forbidding coaches from criticising referees.
While everyone respects how tough a referee’s job is, and that they can’t always get every decision right, why should refs be exempt from criticism when players and coaches aren’t?
On top of that, coaches blowing up often makes for great entertainment, and isn’t that what the game is about these days?
Imagine if we were never treated with Geoff Toovey’s “there needs to be an investigation” line. Was that bad for the game, or just great theatre. And, more importantly, was it an honest assessment?
Sure, sometimes some coaches do use referees as a way of taking the heat off themselves or their players, but fans are intelligent enough to spot when this is occurring.
Maybe that’s when the punishment should be handed out. Maybe the NRL should look back at what Bennett said this week to understand fair criticism should not always be penalised.
THEY SAID IT
“We have been negotiating (with Cherry-Evans’ management) for more than three months. The club set a deadline of midday Monday for an answer to our offer. There was no response so the offer has been withdrawn.” Manly chief executive Joe Kelly.
“I haven’t spoken about deadlines. I am sure it will once Cherry-Evans is ready to make a decision. We’re confident of retaining both halves. We’ll work as hard as we can to make sure they both sign.” Geoff Toovey seemingly in the dark over the decision.
“I have lost total confidence in them. I won’t go into detail but you can’t come out one day with a statement and the same day you rescind the statement in regards to telephones, laptops and god knows what else. By the end of the day, they’ve changed their mind again.” Wayne Bennett gets heavy on the NRL integrity unit.
“One thing I have always said was that I will not get involved in rumours or innuendo. I don’t want to sound like a smart-****. But all I want you to do is say that I am committed to the Parramatta football team and I am committed to the playing group right now.” Brad Arthur break his silence on rumours Manly want him back.
“Ultimately what I want to do is have a great experience myself and make sure all the fans that pay their hard-earned money have a great experience. And I think you do have a greater experience if you are in a packed stadium, whatever that size is, and there is lots of atmosphere.” NRL boss Dave Smith stirs a hornet’s nest over what to do with the promised $600m in state government stadium funding.
Source:
foxsports.com.au