'Nasty and ugly': Daly Cherry-Evans clarifies 'smear campaign' comment after bombshell contract call

Daly Cherry-Evans has described the criticism of his decision to leave Manly as "nasty and ugly" after earlier stating there'd been a "smear campaign" against him.

Speculation was rife as to whether Cherry-Evans would cop boos from his home fans but he was cheered when he ran out before his side's 26-12 victory against the Eels tonight.

As usual, the halfback led his side around the park with expert precision, finishing with 622 kicking metres.

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Speaking to Nine's Brad Fittler post-match, a relieved Cherry-Evans admitted there was added motivation to win the match well.

"That was nice. There's obviously personal reasons why you want a week like this to end with a win but sometimes you've got to put your ego aside, make sure the best thing for this team is focusing on the job at hand and I thought we did that really well today," he said.

"They are so desperate to get a win, they put us under pressure a couple of times in the second half so I'm just really proud of our team especially after the injuries (to Tom Trbojevic and Josh Aloiai) and disruption so I'm really pleased."

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The halfback conceded he was more nervous than usual coming into the match.

"It's hard to separate the personal side of it and your ego because this week took a fair bit of a hit with the people trying to run a bit of a smear campaign against me but this is my favourite time of the week," Cherry-Evans said.

"This is the time that I love the most where everything just disappears for a minute and I get to come out here and just play.

"I'm really proud of the boys for getting a win. (I was a) bit nervous and definitely relieved."

Speaking in his post-match press conference, Cherry-Evans declared "I know who it's coming from" in reference to leaks about his future but wasn't willing to divulge who.

"Obviously there was a fair bit spoken after the announcement was made on Monday night," he said.

"I feel like it could've ended pretty quickly earlier in the week but it obviously didn't which means conversations were continuing to happen outside of the ones happening between the club and I.

"So that's where I felt like it got a bit nasty and a bit ugly but while it's hard not to take things personally sometimes because we're all human, one thing I have got pretty used to is controlling the things you can control and keeping your focus on the things that are important."

The Manly captain added later he wasn't sure what reception he would receive from the crowd but believed they backed him over what had been reported.

"I was really emotional today when I heard the hill supporting me," he said.

"I was a little bit worried it wasn't going to go that way based on what was being put in the media but I reckon they saw right through it and it made me so proud."