Daly Cherry-Evans will next Wednesday night become the 15th Queensland player to captain the Maroons in the State of Origin arena, with coach Kevin Walters labelling his experienced halfback the “standout” choice.
Cherry-Evans was tonight officially unveiled as the 2019 Queensland skipper in front of 500 guests at the Maroons Series Launch dinner at the Howard Smith Wharves.
Walters said he had long been an admirer of Cherry-Evans’ toughness and resilience, as well as his leadership skills with the Manly Sea Eagles.
Standout to lead this team - Walters
“I know we’ve got a really strong relationship, a good coach / captain relationship, which to me is very important as well,” Walters said.
“He understands the game, he’s got great experience.
“He’s played in grand finals, he’s played in Origins, so to me he was a standout to lead this Maroons team onto Suncorp Stadium next week.”
Walters broke the captaincy news to the playing group at this afternoon’s team meeting.
Cherry-Evans said he was thrilled to be given the opportunity to lead Queensland this year.
“It’s a tremendous honour to captain this state,” Cherry-Evans said.
“My immediate task is to make sure that as a group, we get our preparation right. I know we have the personnel here to do that and deliver a performance that everyone can be proud of next Wednesday.”
