UPDATE WEDNESDAY:
Cronulla Sharks chairman Damian Keogh said the club was waiting for Daly Cherry-Evans’s decision on their three-year contract offer.
Cherry-Evans, 26, and manager Gavin Orr met with Sharks management and coach Shane Flanagan on Monday at Sharkies.
The Manly halfback is off contract at the end of this season.
‘‘We believe Cherry-Evans will have a decision before the start of the new season [on March 5],’’ Keogh said.
Orr had said he expected a decision by the end of this week.
Sharks, Manly and Gold Coast Titans want Cherry-Evans.
FEBRUARY 24:
Queensland Origin star and in-demand halfback Daly Cherry-Evans was seen meeting Cronulla Sharks officials yesterday afternoon, sparking more speculation about the 26-year old's NRL future.
News Limited and Fox Sports said they had exclusive footage of the Manly player and Test star entering Sharkies, just a week after he was seen on the Gold Coast.
Although the Sharks will not confirm officially they are making an offer to Cherry-Evans, rumoured to be about $2.5m, chairman Damian Keogh said they were interested in enticing Cherry-Evans to Sutherland Shire.
Cherry-Evans and wife Vessa had flown to the Gold Coast last week for talks with the Titans which tabled a three-year, $3 million offer.
Controversial events in recent days with the Titans cocaine scandal rocking the club — and five players facing the sack including former Sharks forward Greg Bird — could work in the Sharks favour in their effort to recruit him.
Ben Barba's unexpected recruitment to the Sharks may be the bait that helps lure his former Mackay teammate in 2016.
Barba was cut by Brisbane coach Wayne Bennett at the end of last season and given a lifeline by the Sharks when they signed the former Bulldogs star in November.
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan has said Barba would play five-eighth.
Putting Cherry-Evans inside Barba at halfback would make a powerful combination.
Should Cherry-Evans sign with Cronulla, it would be one of the biggest No. 7 signings since Great Britain halfback Tommy Bishop joined the club in 1969 and Brett Kimmorley joined in 2002.
Bishop was captain-coach in the Sharks first grand final in 1973 and Kimmorley played with the club until the end of 2008.
Cherry-Evans has been the centre of speculation about where he may head in recent months.
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