It’s one thing to turn on a masterclass against the bumbling Brisbane Broncos.

But those spruiking how Daly Cherry-Evans’ performance in Manly’s thumping win on Saturday night was somehow proof that DCE does not deserve to be dumped from the Queensland team for Origin II should take a moment to dissect Billy Slater’s interview on The Sunday Footy Show.

FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.

When given the chance by Andrew Johns to back his veteran captain and publicly declare DCE was safe, Slater appeared more than content to sit on the fence and let DCE sweat it out.

Slater at one point even said: “I’m a believer that if you do the same thing and expect a different result you are pretty silly”.

Slater’s lack of commitment four days after the game surely would have left DCE feeling very nervous, and rightly so.

Because it certainly doesn’t change what happened at Suncorp Stadium last Wednesday night _ when the Maroons were comprehensively outplayed despite the Blues not playing anywhere near their full potential.

And that is why the greatest halfback of all time in Johns led the calls post-match for DCE to be dropped and Tom Dearden brought into the starting side.

There is no question Cherry-Evans is a champion, and having his pride dented was always going to trigger a response when he returned to club land.

But that doesn’t mean one cracking performance against a Broncos team hopelessly out of form should automatically guarantee his spot.

Don’t ignore the fact that as good as DCE was against the Broncos, Dearden carried the Cowboys in their win over the Tigers.

MORE NRL NEWS

‘Feeling pressure’: Madge’s dressing room move proves Broncos are ‘in a world of pain’

Real reason Broncos are imploding; Raiders’ future arrives in stunner — Talking Pts

‘He’s got a choice’: Robbo’s challenge to Roosters’ error-prone flyer

Just to be clear, let’s go back over what Slater said in full when asked by Johns if Dearden or Canberra’s Jamal Fogarty could come into calculations.

“Well, it was great to see both Tommy and Chez go back to their clubs and play well on the weekend,” Slater said.

“That was really pleasing to see.

“Look, I don’t point the finger at any one player.

“And, you know, you’ve got to really sit down and take your time after each game and you review the game, you review the performance and given our performance in game one, something needs to change.

“It doesn’t have to be personnel but it might be an attitude shift, it might be some actions on the field, it might be some continuity within the group.

“So I’m a believer that if you do the same thing and expect a different result you are pretty silly.

“Whether that is personnel change or we just need to shift our mindset as we go into the game I am not sure yet.”

If DCE was safe Slater just would have come out and said it so we could all move forward.

Instead, it only creates more debate.

REYNO’S FORM DOESN’T WARRANT A NEW DEAL – YET

Now to the elephant in the room at the Broncos.

Adam Reynolds has made it no secret he wants to play on next year.

But the issue for the Broncos is on his current form there is no way the club could or should be offering the veteran (who turns 35 next month) a new deal until we find out how Reynolds is travelling come the back end of the season.

Five weeks back when Reynolds turned on a masterclass against the Bulldogs he looked as though he could keep playing forever.

But in the four losses since his body language has progressively got worse and worse, to the point on Saturday night where he dead-set looked totally lost and defeated as he sat beside Michael Maguire at the post-match media conference.

You can only wonder what would have been going through his head as Maguire sat there trying to make excuses for the Broncos’ pathetic performance.

As Greg Alexander said on Fox League’s coverage it was as though they “turned it up” against Manly.

Alexander is certainly no headline hunter.

So for a legend with as much media experience as Alexander to come out and publicly accuse a team of giving up should have sent shockwaves through the entire organisation.

Now they take on the Gold Coast this Saturday in what is to state the obvious a must-win.

But if the Broncos go down to the Titans this week all hell could break loose on several fronts.

There is no debate the jury is well and truly still out on whether Reynolds can last another season given the wear and tear on his body.

But just as importantly, does he have the desire to go around again while training and playing in a manner that suits Maguire’s hard-nosed coaching style (that is known to drive even the toughest and most combative players into the ground).

It’s certainly a question the Broncos need to be very clear about given they already have Ben Hunt (36 next year) contracted, and Ezra Mam will be the five-eighth.

That doesn’t mean I am blaming Reynolds for the Broncos’ recent collapse, because that would be ignoring a not so minor issue that the entire team appears lost and playing without any sign of team spirit or self-belief.

While plenty of fingers are being pointed at the players, as we’ve stated in this column previously, it is the coach’s job to get the best out of his team.

And the Broncos players are clearly just not putting in for their coach.

STUART THE MASTER BEHIND RAIDERS’ RESURGENCE

Performance of the round doesn’t go to a player, it goes to a coach.

You can’t overstate the incredible job Ricky Stuart has done rebuilding the Canberra Raiders.

No club in the league has a tougher job recruiting top end talent simply because of Canberra’s location smack bang in the middle of nowhere.

And often they don’t even get anywhere near the top of the tree when it comes to signing the best young players.

Yet the club has done a wonderful job pulling this team together with every player barring Jamal Fogarty and Zac Hosking (who were both unwanted at their previous clubs) recruited without any significant NRL experience.

But just a season and a half after watching Jack Wighton walk out the door for a stack less money so he could go and try and win a comp with South Sydney, Stuart has the Raiders sitting second on the ladder going into this Sunday’s showdown against Wighton’s Rabbitohs.

And the Raiders will be on a high after what was not only a mighty comeback win over the Roosters, but given the fact this also will be Josh Papali’i’s milestone match where big Pappa overtakes Jason Croker’s club record of 318 first grade games.

Despite having a stack of dubious calls go against them late in the first half, the Raiders simply refused to throw in the towel.

In the past they wouldn’t have been mentally tough enough to win this game after all the calls that went against them.

But the way they held their nerve (despite also going into this game without their chief playmaker Fogarty and in-form hooker Tom Starling) was a statement of their intent in the race for this year’s premiership.

It was a cracking performance from both teams, and the Roosters can also be proud of the young stars they have coming through their system.

GUTHO MORE INSPIRATIONAL THAN HUNT

At the halfway point of the season you could legitimately argue Clint Gutherson is doing a better job leading the Dragons than Ben Hunt did previously.

Throughout his time at the Dragons, Hunt was pretty much always head and shoulders above the rest _ yet the only time they played finals was in Hunt’s first season in 2018.

But the Dragons are now in eighth spot and playing with a the type of spirit and tenacity that is a reflection of Gutherson’s inspirational leadership.

Also, when Hunt left the Dragons the biggest concern was how they would score points without him.

But Gutherson has had his fingerprints all over the Dragons’ attack this year.

Just going over Gutho’s attacking stats and comparing them to Hunt at the same point last season is interesting.

In 11 games Gutherson has six tries, 10 try assists, 12 linebreaks and 17 linebreak assists.

Last year Hunt had two tries, 18 try assists, six linebreaks and eight linebreak assists.

Overall, Hunt had 26 total try involvements to Gutherson’s 19.

But Gutho adds to the teams in other areas, especially his ability to guide the team’s defence from the back, while it has also opened up opportunity for Kyle Flanagan to have a greater impact.

TITANS ROBBED BY ‘JOKE’ NO TRY CALL

When your luck’s out, your luck’s out.

Just ask Des Hasler who had every right to be filthy at the decision that robbed Sam Verrills of a try in the Gold Coast’s 28-16 loss to Melbourne.

I haven’t heard one commentator say they agreed with the decision.

With Storm players laying all over the ruck, Verrills barged through the middle only to have the try taken off him because Ryan Papenhuyzen was apparently impeded.

What should have happened is the try should have either been awarded or the Storm had a player sent to the bin.

Instead, it was a 12-point turnaround when the Storm scored a runaway try soon after.

Yet it mounts to another loss for the Titans and more pressure on Hasler.

TIGERS TURN TURMOIL INTO HOPE

Tigers’ fans should be proud of the character their team showed in the comeback against the Cowboys.

After all the turmoil surrounding Lachlan Galvin’s messy exit, the Tigers could have called it a day when trailing 32-6.

But their stunning fightback to go down 32-28 showed the talent still left in this squad regardless of Galvin’s departure.

It sets up a highly anticipated match at CommBank this Sunday when Jarome Luai goes one-on-one with Nathan Cleary when the Tigers take on the Panthers.

HOPOATE SHOULD STAY MANLY NO 1

Anthony Seibold has a huge call to make on Tommy Trbojevic’s future if the superstar returns from injury to take on the Knights .

Given the talk in recent seasons that Turbo may end up in the centres, it is going to be hard to shift Lehi Hopoate on the back of his stunning effort in the win over the Broncos.

The 20-year-old finished with 23 runs for 209m that included five tackle busts, two linebreak assists and a try assist.

If Trbojevic was still at his brilliant best it wouldn’t even be a discussion.

But holding back Hopoate from playing his preferred position could now be detrimental to the Sea Eagles.

RABBITOHS STILL NEED MORE FROM LATRELL

Just imagine if Latrell Mitchell played the entire 80 minutes with the same energy and desire to get himself involved as he did when Souths charged home against the Warriors?

In fairness to Mitchell he was backing up after Origin, so it’s probably no surprise he started slow.

But his moments of brilliance have such a huge impact on the Rabbitohs that it is clear his team just need more from him over the duration of the game.

Meanwhile, the Warriors couldn’t have got another ounce of effort out of their No 1.

Every time you start to question why the Warriors persist with Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad’s at fullback ahead of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Nicoll-Klokstad comes up with a performance like this.

Just look at his stats, 28 runs for 305m that included a try and 10 tackle busts.

In comparison, Latrell had 10 runs for 70m although that included a try and two try assists.

PANTHERS ARE BACK, AND EELS AREN’T GONE

It’s official. The Panthers are back, and the Eels aren’t gone yet.

I don’t care that it was 15th versus 17th on the ladder going into this game.

Parramatta with Mitchell Moses are not the team they were to start this year.

And from what we saw from the Panthers on Sunday they will have every team above them looking over their shoulder from here until the final round of the season.

What another great game of footy this was, especially the performances of all the players backing up after Origin, while young Casey McLean is repaying the faith Ivan Cleary has shown in him.

But we can’t finish without at least mentioning the individual performance of Nathan Cleary who just showed again what a champion he is.