Daly Cherry-Evans Retired With a Field Goal, Fifteen Years After His First Premiership
Cherry-Evans debuted for Manly in March 2011 and won a premiership with them that September, as a rookie. On Sunday, in the 70th minute of his 379th and final NRL game, he dropped a goal to win another one.
It was the 32nd one-pointer of his career and the last kick in it that mattered. He is 37.
Three records went with it. Fifteen years is the longest gap between premierships the game has recorded, beating Lote Tuqiri’s fourteen. He is the oldest premiership winner in 104 years; the last older man to manage it was North Sydney’s George Green in 1922, at 38. And he finishes with more 40-20 kicks than anyone who has played.
He left Manly after a career there to join the Roosters for one season, and said plainly why: “A very big reason why I came here was the belief to give myself and this club a chance to win grand finals.”
Six minutes after the field goal, Greg Marzhew scored and Sandon Smith converted from the touchline. Without the drop goal it is 18-18 and extra time. With it, the Roosters have their 16th premiership and their first since 2019.
“We did it. I didn’t do anything. We did it,” he said afterwards. The scoreboard disagrees with the middle part.
