Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett says the Daly Cherry-Evans signing saga has “hit the self-destruct button” on the NRL season four weeks into the competition, and confirmed South Sydney didn’t have the budget to chase the veteran halfback’s signature.
It comes as Bulldogs boss Phil Gould said every NRL club would be interested in the experienced playmaker, with Canterbury regarded as a potential smokey to poach Cherry-Evans alongside touted contenders the Roosters and Dolphins.
Asked if the Bulldogs would pursue the 36-year-old Manly skipper on his Six Tackles with Gus podcast, Gould referred to Cherry-Evans’ Monday night declaration that he is still weighing up whether to play on in 2026.
“There is a fair bit to play out here, he’s [Cherry-Evans] still got a long season to get through this year. He’s got to get to the back end of this year and see how that goes,” Gould said.
“Every club would consider it, but he’s not available today. So you need to get on with the rest of your development and what have you … If he ever made himself available to go to another club you’d think about OK, where does he fit in? How much football has he got left in him?
“What can he do for the younger players in our club, and what can he do for the education of our club? There might be clubs that think they’re in a premiership window that he might make the difference for them.”
Signing Cherry-Evans could take Gould’s Bulldogs from a finals side to a premiership contender, with an elite game-managing halfback considered one of the few missing pieces of Cameron Ciraldo’s roster.
The Dolphins have made known their interest in Cherry-Evans, who played junior football at Redcliffe, and they have the salary cap space to table a lucrative offer alongside the romantic element of finishing his career in his native Queensland.
The Roosters also have the funds to add Cherry-Evans to a forward pack filled with representative players and a spine featuring playmaking prodigy Sam Walker, captain James Tedesco and, from next season, NSW hooker Reece Robson.
One club that isn’t in the mix for Cherry-Evans is South Sydney. The signatures of Lewis Dodd and Brandon Smith in the past six months have taken up what’s left of the club’s salary cap, while players such Cameron Murray, Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker are also on big money.
Daly Cherry-Evans and Wayne Bennett celebrate after Queensland won the Origin decider in 2020.Credit: NRL Photos
“We don’t have money in the salary cap,” Bennett said. “If you haven’t got a halfback, and you’re struggling a bit, of course a club will do whatever you can to get your hands on him. They don’t come up too often like this.
“I’m sure wherever Daly goes, he’ll be good for them as well. There’ll be some club that will need a halfback and probably pretty close to being the top team, but they just haven’t got the right player at halfback right now.
“He’s virtually injury-free. Plays good football every week, so he’s not ready for retirement, that’s one place he’s not going.”
However, Bennett, who has long criticised the NRL’s trade window, said the Cherry-Evans saga was a bad look for the game.
“This does nothing for the game. It does nothing for the club. It’s wrong, and I wish we’d fix it,” Bennett said.
“You don’t see this in Aussie rules, they are our major competitor. We’ve hit the self-destruct button four weeks into a football season that’s already provided some great football.
“The whole focus is on what a couple of players or clubs have done. So, clubs have done whatever the case. It just shouldn’t happen. It shouldn’t be allowed to happen.”
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