Daly Cherry-Evans admits 'really hollow feeling' as Sea Eagles fail to capitalise on 'huge strides'
Updated . First published at
Sea Eagles captain Daly Cherry-Evans has admitted his side's loss to the Roosters was a "really hollow feeling" after the club made "huge strides" this season.
In a one-sided affair on Saturday night, Manly were bundled out 40-16 by a classy Tricolours outfit, ending their premiership hopes.
Speaking to the media after the defeat, Cherry-Evans was quizzed about his side's progress, coming from outside the top-eight to featuring in a semi final this year.
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"Right now, it's really hard," he said.
Daly Cherry-Evans looks on during the loss to the Roosters. Getty
"It's always a really hollow feeling when you know you've played your last game for the season. That just doesn't go away and it feels a bit disappointing.
"If I do take a step back and take a look at our season, we've made huge strides and we should be proud of a lot of things we've done this year.
"Getting to week two of the finals is something to be proud of."
Cherry-Evans had another fantastic season from an individual perspective, but it wasn't enough to lift the Sea Eagles into their first prelim final since 2021.
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Head coach Anthony Seibold was asked what his team needs to work on heading into next season, but instead focused on the upwards trajectory at Brookvale.
"That's not one for now," he said.
"We've made enormous strides this year. We're down to the last six and there's a whole heap of other teams that would love to be in our position.
Daly Cherry-Evans and Anthony Seibold front the media. Nine
"We made some good steps forward and we'll have a good look at that, it's not one that you come off the field and think we need to do A, B and C.
"It's been a big year, we started over in Vegas and we've been going for a long time now. Guys like Chez and Jake [Trbojevic] had the Origin load as well.
"It's been a really positive year and really enjoyable year … we've worked hard for the common cause, but ultimately the Roosters were too good tonight."
