Manly Sea Eagles seek legal advice after Daly Cherry-Evans, Haumole Olakau’atu charged, Parramatta Eels’ Maika Sivo escapes with fine

Manly on Saturday asked lawyer Nick Ghabar to review the tackle on Lane, who passed his HIA and returned to the game.

“It wasn’t like a typical lifting tackle; he hit him through the stomach, which is a really good tackle,” Sea Eagles coach Anthony Seibold said of Olakau’atu’s effort on Lane.

“And then ‘Chez’ [Cherry-Evans] was on top. He did land in an unfortunate position. But he came back on and played the rest of the game. I thought 10 minutes was sufficient for the tackle, so hopefully nothing more comes with that.”

Cherry-Evans added: “I definitely had a role in the tackle. It just overcompensated what was happening in the tackle. Ten minutes in the bin was probably fair. I’d like to think that’s hopefully all and we’ll move on.”

Should Manly and Ghabar seek a downgrade to a grade-one dangerous throw, Cherry-Evans and Olakau’atu can escape with $1000 fines.

The Sea Eagles will refer to a comparable case from 2022, when Jackson Hastings and Joe Ofahengaue, then playing for Wests Tigers, were both charged for lifting Newcastle’s Tex Hoy into a dangerous position.

Ofahengaue, who was holding Hoy’s upper body, similar to Cherry-Evans’ role on Friday at 4 Pines Park, was handed a grade-one offense and fined. Hastings was charged with a grade-two offense.

The Sea Eagles, who are in the top four on the ladder, face Canberra and the Dolphins in the next fortnight.

Should Cherry-Evans be suspended, it will pave the way for Jake Arthur – Brad Arthur’s son – or Brandon Wakeham to step into the halves. Wakeham and Brooks played together at the Tigers last season.

Eels forward Ryan Matterson was also charged with a careless high tackle on Brooks, but only risks a $1000 fine.

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