Toovey none the wiser on DCE

Manly coach Geoff Toovey doesn’t know if star playmaker Daly Cherry-Evans has had a change of heart about leaving the Sea Eagles.

Speculation continues to mount the Queensland and Australian representative is keen to turn his back on his multi-million dollar deal with Gold Coast to stay at Brookvale.

Cherry-Evans hobbled his way through much of Manly’s fifth successive loss on Friday night, a 28-16 defeat to Canterbury, as he battles an on-going foot injury.

Toovey said the club would love DCE to stay but didn’t know if it would happen.

“It’s just football as usual for us, that is all just media speculation, that’s the rugby league world we live in this games, we just get on with trying to win games that is more important than anything else,” Toovey said.

“I don’t know, I don’t like to talk about individual contracts, legally there is a chance he will stay but there is a good chance he won’t.

“We would have loved both halves to stay, we would like to keep all our quality players but that is not a reality.

“If they want to stay they will stay, we have done our best to try and make that happen.”

Injury-decimated Manly sit on the bottom of the NRL ladder, amid talk Toovey has been frozen out of retention and recruitment decisions at Brookvale.

But the club legend said he didn’t believe the Se Eagles’ present dire predicament would push Cherry-Evans away from the club.

” I don’t think so, it is a very similar team to last year minus one or two players and we finished equal first,” he said.

Cherry-Evans’ cold feet are being linked to Nate Myles’ possible exit from the Titans.

Myles, who is being linked to a move to the Sea Eagles, played a crucial role in convincing good mate DCE to make the move to the Glitter Strip.

Cherry-Evans wasn’t talking after the round seven loss at ANZ Stadium, while his manager Gavin Orr declined to comment on the situation when approached by AAP.

Stand-in skipper Matt Ballin also stayed mum.

“It’s not my place to comment,” he said.

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