Cherry-Evans to depart as players union president

Melissa Woods | November 12, 2025

Daly Cherry-Evans is stepping down from his role as the Rugby League Players’ Association president, with the new Sydney Roosters halfback saying it’s time for change.

Serving six years as a director in the players union and general president for the past four, Cherry-Evans oversaw the last Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in 2023.

While he’s kicking off a new career at the Roosters after 352 games with Manly, the 36-year-old concedes he won’t be playing when the next one starts in 2028.

“With a new CBA sort of three years away, that’s naturally going to outlast my rugby league career, so I think it’s only right that we start to transition in this next generation of leaders within the game and they can help steer this next CBA in a direction that is aligned with the NRL,” Cherry-Evans said.

The last CBA was a protracted dispute, taking almost 20 months to complete, with players taking industrial action by boycotting match-day media.

While the parties negotiated a $1.35 billion allocation to players between 2023 and 2027, there was an impasse over working conditions, including access and ownership of player data, the season’s length, and allocation of funds to the RLPA’s programs.

Cherry-Evans said reaching an agreement on all matters was a “milestone” for the RLPA.

“I obviously don’t think I can take credit for any one thing but I’d like to think … that I helped in some way, shape or form with it.

“I think that minimum wage one is something to really be proud of, you know not just looking after the top end of town which happens so naturally within sport.

“Being involved with the growth of the women’s game and their first ever CBA, I think that’s something to be really proud of, not just on my behalf but obviously theirs, and it’s great to see where that game’s growing and it’s only going to get bigger and better.”

He said the impact of COVID-19 on the competition was the “toughest” period to be a part of the RLPA, but also a great learning experience.

“Just the ability for everyone to work together to juggle through what was arguably the toughest part of the last decade comfortably,” the former Sea Eagles skipper said.

“To be able to have a role and see the NRL continue to push through, the RLPA to have the players back, and the playing group to stay united and want to work together with everyone involved to keep it going, it was just something to be really proud of.

“And also I learned so much through those periods where the money just got stripped out of the game and from there we, were talking about how do we support people’s livelihoods, so really challenging times but I learned so much from it and some really cool history to be a part of.”