Daly Cherry-Evans’ Origin career is reportedly over, but the veteran halfback has urged coach Billy Slater to give him another chance in the No.7 jersey.
Queensland went down in the series opener 18-6, with the representative future of Cherry-Evans being placed under the microscope.
Cowboys gun Tom Dearden, who partnered the Manly star in the 2024 series, was named on the bench and shared hooker duties with Harry Grant and is considered the frontrunner to succed Cherry-Evans.
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The 36-year-old became the oldest ever Origin player on Wednesday night, and speaking on Triple M on Saturday reporter Brent Read revealed Slater could be set to swing the axe.
“There was a lot of mail on Friday that Daly was fighting an uphill battle to keep that No.7 jersey, that Tom Dearden would come into the team,” Read said on Triple M.
“But my understanding is right now, Daly will not be in the team for Origin 2 and his Origin career is over.
The Sea Eagles delivered a dominant performance on Saturday night, beating the Broncos 34-6 with Cherry-Evans assisting three tries in a strong performance.
The veteran playmaker was quizzed on his Origin future post-match and he made it clear he is ready to once again wear the No.7 for Queensland.
“Whether you win or whether you lose in State of Origin, you’re still hurting,” Cherry-Evans said.
“But I guess the part that sometimes gets lost at this level is that we love playing footy, so if there is an opportunity to play you want to get out there with the team.
“At the end of the day I try and keep it really simple, I play footy for a living. I’m so grateful for the opportunity and what I’ve got.
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“If it ended, I played 26 Origin games so I am very grateful for that but I would love to be back there again no doubt about it.
“I just love playing footy for this club, this team.”
Meanwhile, the eighth Immortal Andrew Johns was also of the belief Cherry-Evans could be on his way out of the Queensland side.
“Look, no one beats Father Time and DCE is what, (36)? I think they have to pull the trigger and bring Dearden in,” Johns said on Channel Nine.
“I don’t know where the improvement comes with this group. NSW, if they were on tonight, they win by 40 or 50. They left so many tries out there and they’ll be better for that.
“I don’t know if they can go up another level, Queensland. I think there has to be changes.”
