Daly Cherry-Evans guides Manly Sea Eagles to win over Canberra Raiders

Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans sunk the boot into the Green Machine at Mudgee on Saturday, kicking his Sea Eagles to a 25-6 win over Jack Wighton's Canberra outfit.

A crowd of 6,972 flocked to Glen Willow to watch Cherry-Evans' right boot produce a 40-20, two forced drop-outs, a field goal and a rare 20-40, showcasing why many regard the mercurial Manly No.7 as one of the best halves in the business.

It comes a week after 11,253 attended the Panthers-Knights clash at Bathurst, with Carrington Park the scene as the defending premiers continue to show, on the back of lock Isaah Yeo, why they're the team to beat again in 2022. That commanding 38-20 win was Yeo's third straight man of the match outing for the Panthers.

In total, almost 20,000 fans have been able to watch the NRL in their own backyard, and with Dubbo's round 11 clash between Souths and the Raiders set for May 22, it's likely that figure will crack the 30,000 mark this year.

But Saturday belonged to Manly and Cherry-Evans - his masterclass the highlight in the 19-point victory at Glen Willow.

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said a lot of the praise should be given to Manly legend Bob Fulton, who died in May, for signing Cherry-Evans on a 10-year mega deal.

Cherry-Evans was set to join the Gold Coast Titans when the Sea Eagles lured him into a backflip.

"It was [a masterclass]. And if I'm the Manly boss, Sean Penn, I'd be going down there and putting a fresh bunch of flowers on Bob Fulton's grave every day," Stuart said.

"It's the smartest play that club's ever made is pinching him back off the Titans and offering him $1 million for 10 years.

"Everybody bagged Bozo for it - it was a masterstroke."

The Raiders' rollercoaster ride continues, the loss coming off the back of a poor second half where they were again their own worst enemy.

They'll anxiously await the match review committee after second-rower Hudson Young and Corey Harawira-Naera were both put on report.

The Sea Eagles have an injury concern with Dylan Walker (knee) limping off in the second half.

Canberra looked dangerous early, but ill discipline allowed Manly out of danger and the home side took full advantage - some nice work by Sea Eagles centre Tolutau Koula putting Reuben Garrick over in the corner.

Jason Saab got on the end of a Daly Cherry-Evans kick to recycle the ball for Morgan Harper to score.

When the Green Machine are looking for a kick start, it's Jack Wighton who normally puts his hand up.

He sparked them to life with a kick last week and did so again, this time a mega bomb forcing Tom Trbojevic into an error.

Wighton then barged over from close range in the resulting set to cut Manly's lead to 10-6 at half-time.

A Cherry-Evans 20-40 was a rare highlight in the opening exchanges of the second half, with both sides committing plenty of errors.

Stuart again opted to start with Matt Frawley at hooker, bringing Tom Starling on after 21 minutes.

Starling showed he's developing a nice little kicking game, dinking the ball into the corner only for Hudson Young to knock on with the tryline begging.

But it was Cherry-Evans' kicking game that was the dominant force.

A Jordan Rapana error, trying to force a pass, ended up with the Manly halfback grubbering in-goal for second-rower Haumolo Olakau'atu to score.

A Cherry-Evans' 40-20 then led to a Trbojevic try to end the contest with 16 minutes remaining.

The Manly halfback then slotted a field goal just for fun to make it two wins in a row for the Sea Eagles.

"It's great, they finally get to write a 20-40. I thought his kicking game today was exceptional," Manly coach Des Hasler said.

"It certainly got us back into the game in parts, took pressure off us at times.

"I think we got a try off it and a couple of repeat sets. It was a great kicking game."

Cherry-Evans humbly credited the work of his pack and a bit of luck for the display.

"A lot of it's just off momentum and ruck speed from our forwards, very instinctive sort of stuff," he said.

"I just got lucky with a few kicks and bounces to be fair."

It doesn't get any easier for Canberra, hosting the Melbourne Storm in Wagga Wagga next Saturday.