Former NRL star Anthony Watmough has broken his silence about his feud with embattled Manly Sea Eagles halfback Daly Cherry-Evans during an explosive interview.
The former NSW Blues and Australian representative back-rower didn’t hold back during a lengthy and brutally frank interview with Hello Sports Podcast on Thursday, during which he claimed his former teammate ‘turned into a f***wit’ after making his NRL debut in 2011.
Watmough revealed the pair fell out after the club won the 2011 NRL premiership when Cherry-Evans threatened not to turn up to training unless her got a better deal.
Former NRL star Anthony Watmough (pictured) has opened up about his time at Manly and his relationship with former teammate Daly Cherry-Evans
Daly Cherry-Evans (pictured) threatened not to turn up to training unless his salary was increased, according to Watmough
Cherry-Evans has had a reported history of clashing with teammates at both club and representative level.
The most recent alleged altercation was with Jackson Hastings, who hasn’t played first grade for Manly since April.
‘They (the board) really took a liking to Cherry-Evans. So after 2011, Dessie (former coach Des Hasler) left and so I sort of heard whispers, well it wasn’t whispers, it was on the back page of the f***ing paper (DCE demanding more money),’ Watmough claimed on the podcast.
‘We had a team meeting, I told Chezza to stay back and I said, ‘Mate, what’s this we hear about what I’m reading in the papers?’ ‘I said, ‘Mate, you just signed a f***ing four-year deal, you turn up to training.’ He goes, ‘Nup. My manager told me not to.’
Former NSW Blues star Anthony Watmough (pictured) left the Sea Eagles in 2014 after 278 games
Watmough then reminded Cherry-Evans that he and other senior teammates had made sacrifices to stay at the club, which fell on deaf ears.
‘He just looked me straight in the eye and went, ‘Nah, not turning up.’ So I just went, ‘F*** you,’ Watmough said.
‘In the end, (coach) Geoff Toovey succumbed to the board and he (DCE) was put on $500,000 after being on $50,000. Toovey chose the board and one player over the rest of the players and that’s where he lost me.’
Daly Cherry-Evans, pictured with his wife at the 2017 Dally M Awards, has had a reported history of clashing with teammates
Watmough, who then played 17 games for the Parramatta Eels before being forced into retirement in 2016 also opened up on his relationship with former Manly coach Des Hasler, whom he no longer speaks to and his departure from the Sea Eagles in 2014 after 278 games.
‘I paid $100,000 to get out of the place to be honest,’ Watmough said.
‘People are going to hate me for coming out and saying this but people have to know at the end of the day what the real situation was. They’ve been told many different things and read things that (aren’t true). I feel a weight being lifted off my chest I’m being honest. I’ve just been holding onto that.’
After leaving Manly, Anthony Watmough signed with the Parramatta Eels, where he played 17 games before injury forced him into retirement
The interview sparked a reaction from fans on social media.
‘That Anthony Watmough podcast was explosive. On DCE, on Tooves and on the Manly management. Beyond the absolute obvious, it shows how much a board war can, and has, destroyed a club,’ one man tweeted.
Another tweeted: ‘Always thought it was strange the likes of Matai, Watmough and the Stewart brothers didn’t get the proper send off the deserved. Even if they broke my heart in the 2011 grand final.’