DCE knows emotional wall to blame for how he's portrayed

Daly Cherry-Evans says his desire to be in control has and will continue to polarise him with NRL fans.

The Manly captain has been in terrific form this season, leading his side to sixth overall and an elimination final against Penrith on Saturday.

But, admitting he intentionally puts up a wall when speaking to the media, the 28-year-old understands why criticism still flies his way.

Speaking on Fox Sports’ League Life on Wednesday night, Cherry-Evans said Manly’s ingrained “us verse them” mentality suits him perfectly.

“There is a wall up; I think coming into first grade and experiencing Manly at its finest, it’s something I bought into very quickly,” he said.

“Maybe me admitting there is a wall up, people may understand that a bit better, that I do try to protect myself and do try and make sure I’m in control of every situation I’m in.”

The Mackay junior says his friends and family laugh at what they see of him in the media, such are his efforts to keep a lid on things.

“The person I am away from the media is really relaxed, happy,” he said.

“Whether it’s right or wrong I don’t know, but that’s how I feel I can best control that situation.”

And he says a 2015 backflip on a Gold Coast contract is something he won’t live down.

“I think with the relationship I had with the media at the time (in 2015), I certainly wasn’t very friendly with them,” he said.

“If the option’s there to throw me to the wolves or to look after me, then understandably I can see why they ran with it the way they did.

“Would I have changed a few things? Probably, yeah, but ultimately I still can’t argue that I wanted the result to be any different.”