Daly Cherry-Evans is being urged by the Australian camp to spearhead the Kangaroos to a win in the Four Nations final against New Zealand.

The Manly playmaker stepped into the Kangaroos five-eighth role for the tournament after Johnathan Thurston’s withdrawal with a shoulder injury and has had a mixed three weeks.

He limped off with a hip injury before halftime and didn’t return in the first round loss to New Zealand, before producing the match-winning try in the triumph over England and building on that again in the thumping of Samoa.

However Australian coach Tim Sheens is concerned Cherry-Evans is playing in the shadow of long-term halfback Cooper Cronk and wants the Sea Eagles premiership-winner to step up things for the Four Nations decider.

“I’ve been reasonably happy to very happy with Daly,” Sheens said on Friday.

“Obviously the first game (against New Zealand) he had a hiccup, he was injured so it was difficult to use the first game as a guideline.

“Daly struggled a bit defensively that first game but he was playing on the left side, which was unusual for him because he plays on the right for Manly.

“But since then against a big England side, and the Samoans went looking for him, he handled it well and his offensive game has gotten better and better every game.”

Both Cherry-Evans and Cronk were struck down by a virus in the lead up to Saturday’s decider at Wellington’s Westpac Stadium hindering their preparation.

But Sheens is confident their combination is continuing to grow.

“Being able to play with Cooper is not always easy,” Sheens said.

“Coops is such a dominant player and he’s the dominant figure in the Australian halves with Johnathan not there, so he has to learn to push Cooper out of the way occasionally and I think he has done that alright.”