He is Manly's $10 million man on the cusp of leading the club back to the finals, but a candid Daly Cherry-Evans says a renowned NRL mind guru helped him realise he wasn't trying as much as he should, which was hurting his Sea Eagles legacy.

In a candid interview just days out from Manly's winner-takes-all final-round showdown with Penrith, Cherry-Evans revealed Trent Barrett's inspired decision to hand him the captaincy forced the No.7's brutal self-assessment.

Having booted field goals with both feet against the Warriors last week to keep Manly's season alive, a clear-thinking Cherry-Evans credited a lot of his 2017 success to the input of "football whisperer" Joe Wehbe.

​The mysterious Wehbe has been a noted sounding board for James Tedesco, Aaron Woods and Mitchell Moses.