Tom Trbojevic feels Daly Cherry-Evans deserves to be cheered rather than booed on return to Brookvale Oval but stopped short of telling the Manly faithful not to jeer the halfback in round four.
It comes as the new Manly captain and Ben Trbojevic defended their brother Jake against "unfair" form criticism at the winless Sea Eagles.
Cherry-Evans' messy exit from Manly and eventual arrival at the Sydney Roosters dominated NRL headlines in 2025 amid a middling campaign for the Sea Eagles.
The halfback had long been expected to finish his career at the club with whom he became synonymous across 15 NRL seasons, until bungled contract negotiations lured him away to glamour club the Roosters.
Thursday night's clash between perennial heavyweights the Roosters and the out-of-sorts Sea Eagles marks an emotional first appearance for Cherry-Evans against the old firm.
Manly captain Trbojevic remains great mates with his predecessor Cherry-Evans, but could understand if Manly fans had a vociferous reaction on his return to their home ground.
"I can understand it in the sense that he played for us and now he's playing for a different club," he said.
"I'm not going to tell anyone what to do. If they're going to boo him, they're going to boo him, it doesn't matter what I say."
Cherry-Evans is Manly's most recent premiership-winning halfback, guiding them to the 2011 title, and has made more appearances for the club than any other player in their 80-year history.
"I think the (Manly fans) should cheer him, what he's done for this club. He's played 350-odd games for us and has been one of our all-time greats," Trbojevic said.
"I'm not going to tell the fans what to do but I'd like to think they'd be cheering him."
Ben and Tom Trbojevic defended their brother Jake over his form across the Sea Eagles' first two games of the year.
The eldest Trbojevic ran for only 23 metres as starting lock in the round-two loss to reigning wooden spooners Newcastle and last made a tackle break in 2024.
But the two younger Trbojevics said to judge their brother on his stats sheet alone was to miss the point.
"A lot of people that watch the games and analysts get caught up in stats and what you need to do with the ball," Tom Trbojevic said.
"If someone's tackling hard and forcing errors, it's just as big a play (as an attacking play) but it doesn't get talked about as much."
The eldest Trbojevic is also only two games back from the third concussion he suffered in 2025.
"The way he's gone after these first two weeks, considering he's coming off a head injury last year, it's been great. I think he can only get better," Tom Trbojevic said.
"I think it's unfair that he is coming under criticism."
Younger brother Ben said the Sea Eagles looked to Jake to set their line speed and as an on-field leader.
"He gets very amped up and he gets the boys fired up. He's a really important member of this team and he will be going forward," the second-rower said.
