LeagueNews.co | Jason Patrick
Manly Sea Eagles fans are urging coach Anthony Seibold to plan for the future, which could spell trouble for Daly Cherry-Evans. With the team now four points behind the top eight and only three rounds left, their chances of making the finals appear slim given their current performance.
The Sea Eagles have lost four consecutive matches, effectively diminishing their playoff hopes, especially with the red-hot Roosters sitting four points ahead in eighth place. Manly's remaining games are against the Dolphins, Dragons, and Warriors, and winning all three is essential to keep any hope alive for a postseason appearance.
Given that the playoffs seem unlikely, fans are calling for Seibold to introduce younger talent into the squad. One player frequently mentioned is talented playmaker Joey Walsh, seen as a future asset for the team in the halves.
Following Manly's 26-12 defeat to the Tigers, social media was flooded with calls from frustrated fans demanding that Cherry-Evans be benched. The captain's recent performance has fallen short, and he has been involved in several critical defensive lapses.
In the match against Canberra, Cherry-Evans refused to put his body on the line to tackle Ethan Strange, exhibiting similar behavior against the Tigers. At one point, he appeared to shy away from tackling Sunia Turuva, allowing the Tigers winger to score after an easy run past Tom Trbojevic.
Cherry-Evans had an opportunity to tackle Turuva but seemed distracted by Trbojevic in his peripheral vision, opting instead to pull back and watch as the Tigers scored another try.
One frustrated fan expressed their sentiment on social media, stating, "DCE does not deserve to run out for his 350th in front of the Brookvale faithful next week. I hope Seibold promotes Joey Walsh." Another commented, "Let him play game #350 next week, then drop him for Walsh last 2 games, time to think of the future."