Several weeks before pulling on a Roosters jersey for the first time, Daly Cherry-Evans made an all-too-rare call in modern rugby league.
Cherry-Evans sought out Tricolours staff during the pre-season and volunteered to front the media before Thursday night’s grudge match against Manly.
Before taking on the club he captained and steered around the paddock in 352 games, and following an exit announced on live television that dragged on all season, could Cherry-Evans actually steer into rugby league’s tribalism, the prospect of being booed at a Brookvale Oval he once owned, and all the questions that come with it?
“It was a conversation … I had a really strong belief that there was nothing to hide around this,” Cherry-Evans said of embracing the media interest and build-up to his first clash against the Sea Eagles in a 16-year career.
“This isn’t something to build up in a negative way, this is actually a really positive thing … going to Manly [as the opposition], it’s not a bad thing.
“I’m sure at some stages this week certain parts of the media might make it seem like a bad thing, but I can promise you it’s not a bad thing. It’s a part of the game, right? It’s very rare, people staying at one club for their whole career. Teams build rivalries based on players changing clubs.
“The opportunity to go back to a place where I’ve spent 15 years of my career is really exciting.
“It’s not a negative, otherwise I’d probably be more inclined to hide from you this week.”
And if the boos come from the Brookvale hill, so be it.
Cherry-Evans and his family still live on the Northern Beaches, though, and “based on the amount of people I’ve seen in the community and Manly fans, it’s been nothing but positive”.
“That’s not to say some people there might be a bit more negative,” he said. “But overall my relationship with the hill has been awesome the whole way through.
“It’s not to say people won’t boo, but I’m very, very comfortable with so many friendships and relationships I’ve got with the Manly fan base.”
The 37-year-old was never going to dredge up the well-worn stories about the breakdown in contract talks between him and Manly, whether an extension was ever tabled and at what value, or what he described as a “nasty smear campaign” against him by unidentified Sea Eagles officials.
He was also far more focused on the Roosters 1-2 start, and the 10 tries conceded down his right edge (the most in the NRL), than Manly’s own underwhelming form.
“We’ve lost two out of three,” Cherry-Evans said. “So for me to cast judgment over anyone on our side at the moment would be just ridiculous … Obviously we’re allowing too many points so defensively we’ve got some work to do.
“And then attack-wise, at stages it’s looked nice, but again, not for long enough, so it’s definitely a lot to do with the combinations. It’s certainly not from a lack of effort.”
Cherry-Evans’ return to Brookvale in Roosters colours is also the fifth edition of the annual Gotcha4Life Cup where the two clubs celebrate the mental health awareness causes championed by Gus Worland and, in more recent years, Cherry-Evans, James Tedesco and the Trbojevic brothers.
Cherry-Evans was at his most expansive in a 14-minute press conference when he revealed he had sought out a therapist last year, not in relation to his footy or “even to talk about the stuff I was going through in the media”, but as part of a deeper mental health dive.
And come Thursday night, walking into the away dressing room at Brookvale for the first time in a career that has already traversed almost every narrative in rugby league?
“There will be new emotions and I think it’s going to bring back a lot of great memories, too.”
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