Daly Cherry-Evans 2026: Roosters move, contract & net worth

Few NRL careers have been as defined by high-stakes decisions as Daly Cherry-Evans’s. The halfback who captained Queensland and won a Dally M Medal has now made the most dramatic call of his career — leaving the Manly Sea Eagles after 14 seasons to join the Sydney Roosters for 2026. Here’s what the move means, what it says about his priorities, and what we know about the man behind the headlines.

Born: 20 February 1989 · Height: 1.83 m · Position: Halfback · Current team (2026): Sydney Roosters · Estimated net worth: $5 million · Children: 3

Ten key facts at a glance:

What team is Daly Cherry-Evans on in 2026?

Sydney Roosters move details

• Cherry-Evans signed a one-year deal with the Sydney Roosters for the 2026 NRL season (Sydney Roosters official club announcement).
• The club described him as a “premiership-winning halfback and former Queensland Maroons captain” (same source).
• He joins after 352 games for Manly, a tenure that spanned 14 seasons (NRL.com league official site).

Contract length and salary

• NRL.com reported the deal is for one season at Bondi (NRL.com league official site).
• While the Roosters did not disclose financial terms, media estimates place the contract value at around $800,000 per season (realestate.com.au property news).

Why is DCE leaving Manly?

Reasons for departure

• Cherry-Evans exercised a player option to leave at the end of the 2025 season (NRL.com league official site). He said, “I was a free agent at season’s end and I chose to go somewhere else” (NRL.com league official site).
• Reportedly, family considerations played a role — the Yahoo Australia report noted he is “settled with his wife and three daughters in Sydney’s northern beaches” (Yahoo Australia sports news).
• Manly had tabled a reported two-year, $1.4 million offer to keep him, which he rejected after his initial decision to leave (realestate.com.au property news).

The backflip controversy

• Manly fans reacted strongly to the move; some labeled it a “backflip” because Cherry-Evans had previously indicated he wanted to finish his career at the Sea Eagles (Yahoo Australia sports news).
• Andrew Johns, the NRL legend, commented that “his family will be central” to any decision (Yahoo Australia sports news).

The pattern: for a player who built his reputation on cool-headed game management, the move signals a calculated personal gamble rather than a financial one.

How many children does Daly Cherry-Evans have?

His three daughters

• Cherry-Evans and his wife Emily have three daughters. Their names are Evie, Scout, and a third child whose name has not been made public (Yahoo Australia sports news).
• The family lives on Sydney’s northern beaches, close to where Cherry-Evans grew up in Redcliffe (realestate.com.au property news).

Wife Emily

• Emily is a constant presence at games and in his public life. The couple have been married since 2016 and have built their life around rugby league and parenting (Yahoo Australia sports news).

The implication: stable family life underpins a career defined by high-pressure playmaking.

What is Daly Cherry-Evans’s net worth?

Career earnings

• Estimated net worth is around $5 million, based on media reporting of his salary history and endorsements (realestate.com.au property news).
• During his time at Manly, he was one of the NRL’s top earners, with his previous contract reported at $1.2 million per season (Yahoo Australia sports news).
• The Roosters deal is reportedly worth about $800,000 per season — a pay cut, but one he accepted to secure a move (realestate.com.au property news).

Endorsements

• He has partnerships with major sports brands, though specific endorsement income is not disclosed publicly (Yahoo Australia sports news).

What this means: the net worth figure is a media floor, not a verified total, and the salary cut reinforces that this move was driven by non-financial factors.

What is Daly Cherry-Evans’s height?

Physical stats

• Height: 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) (Sydney Roosters profile page).
• Weight: 88 kg (194 lb) (same source).

Playing style

• Cherry-Evans plays halfback. He is known for his tactical kicking game, composure under pressure, and ability to control the tempo of a match (Queensland Rugby League state governing body).

The catch: height alone doesn’t measure his influence — his field vision and kicking game compensate for any physical limitations.

Cherry-Evans’s move to the Roosters is the biggest decision of his post-Origin career. He gave up a longer, higher-paying offer from Manly to chase a new challenge while keeping his family settled on the northern beaches. For the NRL fan, the trade-off is clear: Roosters get an elite halfback on a short deal, and Manly lose a club legend. For Daly Cherry-Evans, the next season will test whether a one-year gamble can add another chapter to a career already built on high-stakes calls.

Related reading: Spencer Leniu: Injury, Contract, Thurston Incident

For more on Daly Cherry-Evanss age and career, including his journey from NRL debut to veteran status, check out the full profile.

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