DCE escapes penalty for Buhrer exchange

Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans has escaped punishment from the NRL match review committee after appearing to poke the eye of former teammate Jamie Buhrer.

The under-fire captain drew further attention to himself in the final seconds of Friday night's loss to Newcastle when putting his hands in the face of the Knights' co-captain.

The ugly-looking incident didn't draw a penalty or a complaint from Buhrer but did come under the microscope of those watching at home as vision and photos of the incident began to circulate.

Cherry-Evans, fresh off accepting a $10,000 fine following his bust-up with exiled teammate Jackson Hastings, would have breathed a sigh of relief when no charges were announced on Saturday.

The pair played together at Manly and are considered to be good friends but their post-game conversation appeared anything but friendly as Buhrer was left clutching his face after the full-time siren.