DALY Cherry-Evans believes he can play State of Origin until 2025 as the Maroons skipper vowed to stave off the next generation of playmaking young guns to retain the Maroons’ No.7 jumper.
Cherry-Evans may have just turned 33, but Manly’s recent decision to hand their captain a two-year extension is evidence ‘DCE’ is confident he can emulate Maroons halfback predecessor Cooper Cronk and fire in the NRL beyond his 35th birthday.
Cherry-Evans’ start to the 2022 NRL premiership is proof age is not wearying him.
His game-management and remarkable precision kicking are tributes to a 266-game veteran who now has time to make split-second decisions and has mastered the art of playmaking in the NRL.
But Cherry-Evans is also wary of the playmaking threats gunning for his representative jumpers.
In the Test arena, Penrith maestro Nathan Cleary is eyeing off the green-and-gold No.7 jumper in a World Cup year.
At Origin level, Queensland whizkid Sam Walker is on the rise at the Roosters and underlined his cool head under pressure with his match-winning heroics to break the Broncos’ hearts in Round 5.
Despite his advancing years, Cherry-Evans has fought too hard to give up his Queensland and Australian jumpers.
After three years in Origin exile, Cherry-Evans has been Queensland’s halfback mainstay since 2018 and he plans to keep it that way.
“It’s great to see other halfbacks doing well, but I’m up for the challenge,” Cherry-Evans said.
“Competition is great in any walk of life, and it’s certainly bringing out the best in me.
“I actually enjoy people comparing me and Nathan Cleary, and I love watching him play. He’s top-shelf. We’re at different stages of our careers, he’s got the world at his feet, but there’s a World Cup at the end of the year and that’s part of my goal.
“In terms of Origin, it’s really pleasing to see the evolution of Sam Walker. It’s important that Queensland’s stocks are healthy, and it’s great to see young playmakers such as Sam and Tommy Dearden coming through.
“But their development doesn’t change the fact that I love playing for Queensland and I’m still as passionate as ever about wearing the Maroon jumper.”
Cherry-Evans’ competitive fire has been stoked by the ultimate Origin rollercoaster ride of the past 18 months.
In November 2020, the veteran of 16 Origin games celebrated his career highpoint when he skippered Queensland to a boilover series win as Wayne Bennett returned with 14 debutants to stun the Blues.
Within eight months, Cherry-Evans was digesting the pain of Queensland’s horror 2021 campaign.
Under Bennett’s coaching successor Paul Green, the Maroons fell apart, suffering a record 50-6 loss in Game One in Townsville before surrendering the Origin shield with an embarrassing 26-0 shutout against a rampant NSW at Suncorp Stadium.
Cherry-Evans helped engineer a face-saving 20-18 victory in Game Three, but the wounds are still raw for the Queensland skipper.
“It was a really difficult series,” Cherry-Evans lamented.
“Personally, it was devastating. I went from the highs of captaining Queensland to a series win to the lows of watching NSW completely dominate us.
“We had so many dramas and things go wrong last year.
“We had injuries before Game One and then there was the Covid stuff (Jai Arrow’s breach which saw him stood down for Game Three) and the selection issue with Ronaldo (Mulitalo, who was pulled out of the Queensland team for Game 2 after an eligibility gaffe).
“I felt for ‘Greeny’. There was all sorts of speculation about him and the team, but I enjoyed being coached by Greeny. Unfortunately, we just lost our way and the Blues were too good for us across the series.
“But I’m a competitive person and if I get the chance, I want to right some wrongs this year.”
If Cherry-Evans sees out his new deal, he will be playing for the Sea Eagles at the age of 36. The baron of Brookvale is on track to play well in excess of 300 NRL games.
If he plays every Origin game over the next four seasons, the skipper will finish with 28 Origin appearances for the Maroons.
That would be a remarkable effort given his three-year absence during the Cronk-Johnathan Thurston scrumbase reign.
“I feel as excited as I was in my first season,” he said.
“I have never been one to sit back and get complacent. Naturally I am the sort of person who is going to get every bit out of myself as a footy player and make sure I don’t lose appreciation of how lucky I am to do it along the way.
“I am always grateful for every game I get, and I feel like I’m in as good a shape as I’ve ever been fitness-wise.
“I haven’t lost any speed just yet. I know it can be a matter of time before you have to start to learn different ways to play footy, but at the moment I am feeling really fit and strong.
“Some people see contracts as a deadline when you get older, but I won’t be afraid to keep playing it year by year. As long as I’m enjoying it and playing at a level that justifies a spot, then I’m going to keep doing it.
“I don’t know when my journey is going to stop or going to end.
“Trust me … I will be playing for Manly, Queensland and Australia as long as I can.”