Canberra coach Ricky Stuart says Manly should thank Immortal Bob Fulton “every day” for his role in convincing Daly Cherry-Evans to backflip on a deal with Gold Coast in 2015.
Cherry-Evans put on a masterful kicking display in the Sea Eagles’ 25-6 win over the Raiders, the club’s second straight victory.
Cherry-Evans kicked a 40-20, a rarely seen 20-40, set up a try with a grubber and topped it all off with a field goal in an extraordinary performance that lifts the Sea Eagles to the verge of the top eight.
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In 2015 Cherry-Evans changed his mind after agreeing to a multi-million dollar deal with the Titans, instead electing to stay at the Sea Eagles.
“If I’m the Manly boss, I’d be going and putting a fresh bunch of flowers on Bob Fulton’s grave every day,” Stuart said after the match.
“It’s the smartest play that club’s ever made, pinching him back off the Titans and offering him $1 million for 10 years.
“Everybody bagged Bozo for it, it’s a masterstroke.”
Manly took a 10-6 lead into the break and the score remained unchanged through the first 20 minutes of the second half, before tries to Haumole Olakau’atu and Tom Trbojevic in the space of three minutes turned the game in favour of the Sea Eagles.
“It was one of those nights, they defended really well so it was nice to get a few results from kicks,” Cherry-Evans told Fox League after the match.
“There was a lot of hard work done inside me before that, some quick play the balls of our middle (forwards).”
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Having secured a top-four spot last year despite starting 0-4, Manly’s 2-2 record at the same stage this year suggests the side is well on track to feature prominently again in 2022.
Cherry-Evans, however, conceded the Sea Eagles still have room to improve.
“I’d like to think we’ve got a fair bit left in us, it’s only round four. Results-wise we’ve only got the two wins, so we have a lot of work to do,” he said.
“In my honest opinion most of the sides from last year have improved, so if we’re looking to go better than last year we need to improve.”
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