DCE 'excited' to play in first GF in 13 years

It’s been 13 years apart. But Daly Cherry-Evans is once again in an NRL Grand Final.

Having left Manly following 15 seasons of service to join the Roosters in their bid for a premiership, the 37-year-old is now 80 minutes away from claiming his second premiership as Sydney pulled off a dominant 36-20 win over the Dolphins on Friday night.

In what will be his 379th and final game in the NRL before heading to Super League side Hull FC next year, the veteran admitted he was excited to return to the big dance in new colours.

“I'm obviously very proud of the performance of our whole side tonight. I just play a role in a team; it's as simple as that,” he told SEN League.

“There's no one in our team that thinks they're bigger or better than this club or this team.

“That's the mentality we've gotta hold onto next week. Everyone needs to play their role next week, and yeah, I'm so excited to be back on grand final day.”

The preliminary final also marks the last time that Cherry-Evans will play a match at Suncorp Stadium.

Whilst the former Queensland captain is glad to have played one more game at the venue, his focus remains on lifting the Provan-Summons Trophy.

“It is special that I got to play one more game up here,” he added.

“But honestly, I'd like to think throughout my career emotional control has been really important for me, so, I'll take in tonight, I'll make sure I enjoy the win with the team, but the job's not done yet.”

The Roosters will play the winner of either Penrith or Newcastle in this year’s Grand Final.

That takes place on October 4 at Accor Stadium, with SEN League having live coverage of the match across our radio network and on the SEN app from 12pm AEDT with Crunch Time NRL.