'I'll answer': Anthony Seibold's telling act amid burning Cherry-Evans question

Manly coach Anthony Seibold denied suggestions the Daly Cherry-Evans saga has been a distraction after the Sea Eagles were flogged by the Storm 48-24 on Sunday.

The Sea Eagles were a shadow of the team that beat Parramatta last week, and conceded five tries in a 14-minute blitz in the second half that put the result beyond doubt.

In the post-game press conference, the coach took the reigns when both were asked if the skipper's announcement - that this will be his last season at Brookvale - had been a distraction.

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"I'll answer - we've had two really good preparations (since then)," Seibold said.

"I thought we played really well against Parramatta last week. You saw what they did to the Dragons (on Saturday), who beat the Storm the week before.

"It's a really tough competition, but I felt as though we had a really good preparation, we trained really well on Thursday.

"But sometimes you're outplayed, sometimes teams are better on the day than you are.

"That's what I felt like today."

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Cherry-Evans confirmed a fortnight ago he would not be playing for the Sea Eagles in 2026. He is yet to decide if he'll play on elsewhere, or retire.

Should he decide to play on, the Roosters and Dolphins appear to be the two clubs in the race for his signature.

Cherry-Evans didn't share his own thoughts on the contract saga on Sunday, but admitted the club had some soul searching to do following the heavy loss.

"There's a lot to our game that we have to go and own and review," Cherry-Evans explained.

"Ultimately, when you don't execute, you don't win the physical battle and when you play a benchmark side, you get 40 points put on you.

"So, really disappointing day overall, especially where we played today. We'd like to have a bit more pride in our performance, but we were off and they were fantastic, and that's footy, you don't get the result."

The Sea Eagles will travel to Perth on Monday ahead of their clash with the Sharks - the first match of Saturday's double header at Optus Stadium.