“Some of the younger boys didn’t really know his story, but once he delved into it, it was easy to sit there and listen. He was really open about what had happened.
“Selfishly it was good to hear from him because we took a lot out of what Craig said.”
Craig Field addresses the Manly players on Tuesday.Credit:Alfred Naupoto (Manly Media)
Coach Anthony Seibold said, “you could hear a pin drop” when Field spoke, and any NRL club or school would benefit from hearing his tale.
“It was the first time he had shared his story [with a group] and it was almost a weight off his shoulders, just to be vulnerable,” Seibold said.
The Sea Eagles were crowned the inaugural pre-season challenge winners, with $10,000 of the $100,000 prizemoney to be donated to local charity Bear Cottage.
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Cherry-Evans will be one of 10 Sea Eagles to shave his head in the hope of raising more funds, which is already sitting close to $35,000.
Manly launched their season at North Head on Wednesday, Josh Schuster confirming he injured his calf in the opening minutes of last Friday’s trial, but said he was aiming to be back by round three.
Cooper Johns, the son of popular media identity and former Newcastle and Cronulla playmaker Matthew Johns, is on a $1000-a-week train-and-trial deal, but will fill the final spot on the top-30 roster before Saturday week’s opener against Canterbury.
Schuster, who will be the regular No.6 after Kieran Foran’s departure, said of his untimely injury: “It pulled up tight in the first five minutes of the first half, [but] I didn’t want to say anything because I hadn’t played in a long time. It got tighter throughout the game.
“I told ‘Seibs’ [Seibold] once went into the sheds and I said, ‘it’s not good’. I had scans on Monday and it confirmed a tear.”
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