Following Manly Sea Eagles' defeat to the Gold Coast Titans on Friday night, Daly Cherry-Evans has broken his silence on being axed from the QLD Maroons line-up for Game 2 of the 2025 State of Origin series.
In an attempt to keep the series alive and not lose in back-to-back years, Queensland coach Billy Slater made the tough decision to axe Cherry-Evans and replace him with Tom Dearden in the halves.
The enormous call to drop the Maroons' skipper came after he had a below-average performance at Suncorp Stadium and has brought his State of Origin career to an end with 26 appearances to his name after making his debut in 2013.
Now, the Manly Sea Eagles skipper has broken his silence on the axing after the club's loss to the Gold Coast Titans, capping off a disappointing week for the veteran playmaker who will depart at season's end.
“The start of the week was tough. On Sunday, I got the news, and on Monday, I had to go to training and face the boys," Cherry Evans said on Friday night.
"After that, it honestly started to feel normal. This is not the first time I've been dropped from the Queensland side. I've had experience to take it on board.
"You can't worry about things you can't control. The initial news was tough but I moved on and thought we were going to come here and play some good footy. Based on our preparation it looked like all the signs were there.
"Unfortunately, the most important part of the week is showing up on game day, and we didn't do that."
The comments from Cherry-Evans come after Billy Slater explained his decision to axe the state's skipper earlier in the week.
"I think when it comes down to it, we just feel that it's the right decision to be made for the footy team," QLD Maroons coach Billy Slater said earlier in the week.
"We don't take any decision lightly, whether it's a player keeping their spot, or another player coming in. All Queenslanders are considered.
"We just feel Tom is the right person for the number seven jersey right now. Firstly, you won't hear a negative word from me about Daly Cherry-Evans.
"What he has given this jersey, and what he has done for this footy team and this group, that'll be with all Queenslanders and with Daly for the rest of his life. No one can take that away from him.
"You earn every opportunity to play in this jersey, and we just feel that Tom Dearden has earnt the opportunity to play in the number seven jersey, and we feel it's the right thing for the footy side."
