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As he prepares to enter his 15th season in the top grade, Sea Eagles skipper Daly Cherry-Evans’ legendary longevity means he’ll be the last player born in the 1980s still running around in the NRL.

One of rugby league’s great survivors, DCE was seven months old when Canberra defeated Balmain in the epic 1989 grand final at the Sydney Football Stadium.

He was seven years old when another Manly man who defied Father Time’s attempts to run him down, Cliff Lyons, led the club to the 1996 premiership.

By 22, he had his own winner’s ring, tasting grand final glory in his rookie NRL season alongside great mate Kieran Foran, who will be 34 and 260 days old when the Titans launch their 2025 campaign against the Bulldogs.

Still going strong some 13 years later, Cherry-Evans will be 36 years and 16 days old when Manly host the Cowboys in Round 1 at 4 Pines Park.

Should he win a 26th cap for the Maroons on May 28, he would become the oldest man to play State of Origin at 36 years and 96 days, surpassing another Queensland legend Petero Civoniceva (36 years and 74 days in 2012).

Back in the swing of pre-season training with Manly after an extended break, Cherry-Evans has his sights firmly set on delivering the club its first premiership since that magic moment in 2011 against the Warriors.

“I’m really grateful for the time the club gave me to spend with the family – to recover and refresh for another season,” Cherry-Evans told ‘The Manly Way’ documentary.

“And I feel like it’s going to pay off during the season.

“Mentally I’m more energetic and more focused than I’ve ever been and I thank the club for the time off to feel that freeness.”

Another of the game's 'golden oldies' still matching it with the young pups after 16 seasons in the top grade, Foran is full of praise for the Manly skipper, who lines up for his 330th career game in Round 1.

"It’s no surprise to me that he is still going. Ever since I've known him, he was just ultra-professional," Foran told NRL.com.

"He does everything in his power to prepare himself to the best of his ability. If you know him, you know he is ultra-competitive as all the great ones are.

"He knows what his limits are and it doesn’t surprise me that he is still playing the sort of footy that he is. To be the Origin halfback all these years on, it’s quite incredible really.

Those were the days: Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans celebrate a Manly try in 2011.
Those were the days: Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans celebrate a Manly try in 2011.

"We talk quite a bit on the phone and he says to me, 'You just keep going, Foz. While you’re playing good footy you just keep playing'.

"He lives by that mentality. Whilst he can be at that elite level he needs to be for his club and state and country, he will keep going. He has looked after his body so well and he is feeling good physically."

Well before they teamed up at NRL level for the first time in the opening round of the 2011 season, Foran and Cherry-Evans had arrived on the scene as teenagers in Manly's 2008 Toyota Cup side.

Midway through the 2009 season, Foran graduated to the top grade, playing nine games alongside the likes of Matt Orford, Steve Matai and Jason King before cementing his place in the side the following year.

"It's crazy to think we met as kids and crazy to think we would both go on and play as long as we have," Foran said.

"We have played through a few different eras and watched a new generation coming through. The big thing is it keeps you young.

"You have to adapt and evolve and that’s what it forces you do when you have a long career. 

"I feel blessed that we have be able to share in one another’s careers in such a way. I couldn’t be prouder of him.

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A look back at the 2011 Grand Final

"He has been a tremendous role model for the game and such a wonderful leader over a long period of time.

"What your teammates think of you is the best measure of a man and anyone who has had anything to do with Daly holds him in such high regard.  

"It's an honour to be labelled 'the oldest player' because to have a long career in the NRL you have to evolve and he has been tremendous at doing that.

"He knows the sort of career he has had and I don’t think age has ever been a barrier for him.

"It will be great one day to sit back and reminisce on the journey we both shared and what we were able to achieve in the game."

Should Cherry-Evans grab his slice of history as the oldest ever Origin player he won't get the chance to square off against Foran in 2025, with the only clash between Manly and the Titans set down for the weekend before Origin Two.

The Maroons skipper will be in camp when his Sea Eagles travel to Cbus Super Stadium to face his old mate Foran and the man who led them to the premiership at Manly in 2011, Des Hasler.

Whether they get the chance for another on-field reunion in 2026 will be as much a mental battle as a physical one, but as the game has taught us countless times since 1908, you pension off a champion at your own peril.

Match: Sea Eagles v Cowboys

Round 1 -

Sea Eagles

home Team

Sea Eagles

Cowboys

away Team

Cowboys

Venue: 4 Pines Park, Sydney

Match broadcasters:

  • WatchNRL