Seibold wants to give DCE time to consider future

Manly coach Anthony Seibold says Daly Cherry-Evans deserves to be given time to consider his future, as rugby league's ultimate ironman again proves his durability.

Cherry-Evans was on Saturday declared fit to take on an undefeated Canberra, eight days after struggling to walk when he suffered back spasms against the Warriors.

At age 36, Cherry-Evans is already set to finish this season as the Sea Eagles' second oldest ever player behind Cliff Lyons, and is showing no signs of letting up.

The halfback's ability to overcome back spasms means his only injury lay off in the past nine years remains an ankle issue that ruled him out for a month in early 2019.

The spotlight on Cherry-Evans' future has intensified, with suggestions Manly risk being torpedoed by a rival club if they do not offer a big-money deal to their captain.

But Seibold said it was not as simple as looking at the No.7's durability and performances and assuming he would want to play on.

Instead, he said Manly's captain should be given until further in the season to make his own call.

"That's totally up to Chez. I mean, he's 36 and he turns 37 next February. If Chez wants to play on, we'd love to have him here," Seibold said.

"But I think in fairness to the situation for Chez, we're two rounds into a 27-round season.

"So only he can make the decision whether he wants to play on and if he does, how long for?

"Once the season gets up and running (properly), I'll have a conversation with him about what he wants to do."

Regardless Seibold does believe the 331-game veteran is still playing as well as ever, with his most recent seasons among his best.

"It speaks to the professionalism of Daly," Seibold said.

"We gave him some extra time off this year. He returned and he was in the top couple of players by the second week, which is amazing."

Seibold also confirmed Tom Trbojevic would be a certain starter against Parramatta next week, with Manly being overly cautious on his tight hamstring.

With Lehi Hopoate moving to fullback, Manly have had another blow with Tommy Talau set for further time out while trying to overcome his hamstring tightness.

Clayton Faulalo will therefore come onto the wing against Canberra on Sunday at Brookvale.

One of the most dangerous teams in round one against North Queensland, Manly came crashing back down to earth in their loss to the Warriors last week.

But Seibold insisted concerns over Manly's high ceiling and low floor were overblown.

"We showed last year we made some great strides," Seibold said.

"You need to give Warriors some credit. They were outstanding last week.

"Even look at them (Friday) night, beating the Roosters who beat the four-time premiers the week before. They disrupted us. They suffocated us.

"We had eight play-the-balls in their half in the entire first half. We had 38 seconds inside their 20 for the entire game. And then we didn't help ourselves."