Daly Cherry-Evans kicked off his press conference by asking media to “stay away” from questions regarding his future before an intimate reveal regarding what he’s really like away from rugby league.

The 36-year-old will play his 350th game for the Sea Eagles in Round 25, but that milestone has been largely overshadowed by his contract situation.

The talented halfback reportedly has a handshake agreement to sign a one-year deal with the Roosters in 2026, revealing earlier this year the 2025 season would be his last at Brookvale.

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Rumblings have emerged the veteran could hang up the boots, before they were squashed, while calls have been made for the Tricolours to backflip on their recruitment call.

Regardless, Cherry-Evans made it clear he won’t be speaking about next year when fronting up for to media on Wednesday.

“I’ll just start off by saying hopefully we can stay away from the future stuff, I am not going to answer anything,” he said before the questions began.

“I understand you might ask but I am just not going to answer anything, I want to try and keep the focus on this weekend and Manly and hopefully the celebrations this weekend.

“I hope you can understand that.”

Cherry-Evans was also asked if he “keeps something up his sleeve” when speaking to reporters, which prompted an honest response from the Manly skipper.

“By nature I am very private, I think over the later part of my career I have tried to give the media and journalists a bit more of an insight,” he explained.

“Only because I believe that you guys are the link between us and the fans, so I think for the fans sake I have tried to show them a bit more.

“Have I really shown my true colours through the media? Probably not but I guess there’s also a part of me that really enjoys when I’m at the pub.

“Someone comes up to me and we have a chat and they go ‘gee, you’re not what I thought you were’. I sort of like that a bit.”

Cherry-Evans then touched on his history with media, having been branded a “filthy cockroach” for backflipping on a move to the Gold Coast in 2015.

This year, the veteran playmaker has also been front and centre in the headlines after he made the decision to walk away from the Sea Eagles at the start of the season.

“I guess the privacy thing has always been around trying to protect myself, as you can understand I’ve had some pretty rocky times through media,” Cherry-Evans said.

“My first thing to do is protect myself and that usually means don’t tell or do anything and just lock it down.

“So I guess over time I have tried to give more of myself for the fans, but I do as though my best work is done face-to-face with someone.”

While Cherry-Evans will mark a significant milestone this weekend against the Dolphins, his farewell from the club he’s spent 15 years at is also looming.

He becomes just the fifth player in the rugby league’s history to play 350 first grade games, joining the likes of Terry Lamb, Darren Lockyer, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith.

So, with his farewell looming, Cherry-Evans is hoping to separate those two days.

“I mean it’s going to be difficult and different for a lot of people, but I’m not the first player to move on from the club,” he said.

“There’s been some far greater Manly personalities that have moved on from this club before my time, it’s not as if they don’t know how to deal with it.

“I know personally it will be hard for me when the times comes, but I actually feel like I am going to be pretty clear on separating the two.

“This weekend I feel is a great way to celebrate a milestone, whereas a farewell as such I feel like there’s an opportunity for that in the next couple of weeks.

“But not this weekend, I guess that’s how I’ve framed it. This week is not a farewell, this week is more of a celebration for the milestone.

“Then we can all laugh and cry on the hill together in the last round of the year.”

Cherry-Evans has played with a host of the NRL’s greatest ever players, featuring in 26 Origin games while also playing 21 games for the Kangaroos.

As for how he wants to be remembered as a Sea Eagles player, it all come down to simply being a good teammate.

“The piece on how you get remembered, I think at the end of the day all you want to be known for is being a reliable teammate that could do his job and be counted on,” he said.

“That’s the main thing you want to walk away with… the thing I am going to take away is the connections, the friendships, the relationships.

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“That’s always the hardest thing, but I guess that’s the thing that over time you realise there’s players I have played with that have since gone on and retired but the relationship and friendship has still stayed strong.

“I trust that that’s still going to happen with a fair few of the playing group I have now.”

He also explained he was immensely proud of his achievements on the rugby league field, having won the 2011 premiership and also winning the 2013 Clive Churchill Medal.

“It’s more than a childhood dream, you sort of start off by wanting one and then you sort of persists and get a taste of it,” he said.

“Then you get more ambitious and along the way I dreamt to play as many games as Cliff Lyons, Steve Menzies, the legends of this club.

“Definitely along the way I was inspired by the people who came before me, I think now that I am here myself it’s a bit of a pinch myself moment.

“I’m proud of the journey, the ups and downs and everything that’s come with it.”