Tragic tale of Natesha McArdle shows why Manly need Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran Daly Cherry Evans, Natesha McArdle, 14, and Keiran Foran Source: Supplied THE formula does not change for any club who wants to win a premiership. Above all else, you need quality men. Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran have 10 years ahead of them at Manly and while they were not there in the early days of the club's revival, as Cherry-Evans was privately accused of by his critics within the club, there is no doubt he is so much of the club's future. That considered, when other players were looking for more money and the decision was between them and Cherry-Evans, there was no real decision to make. If there is one thing the Sea Eagles know, it's quality. A little while ago a young girl in Goulburn, Natesha McArdle, was dying of cancer. You want to talk about rotten luck? On August 1 Natesha, just 14, went to hospital to get a complaint checked out. She was diagnosed with Sinonasal Undifferentiated Carcinoma (SNUC), and all you need to know about that is less than 100 people have ever been diagnosed and it is a highly aggressive form of cancer. Three weeks later Natesha had a 14-hour operation to remove the cancer, as big as her small fist. They even removed her eye to stop the stem, but eventually the cancer got too great. Just eight weeks later it was back, bigger than it was. This is where we see the power of rugby league. Suddenly, a little girl faces her own death and a thousand hearts break at the news. All anybody around her can do is make life as comfortable and as happy as possible while trying to keep an eye away from the calendar. She moved to Bear Cottage at Manly. "Do you know what it is?" her father Darren asks. It's a hospice. Basically, kids go there to die. Kieran Foran and Daly Cherry-Evans. Once at Bear Cottage Natesha was asked, is there anything we can do? What nobody knows is Natesha carries a secret flame and so, of all the things in the world she can ask for, she asks to meet two NRL players, Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran. Save Disneyland for someone else. Her father gets in contact with a friend who has contacts and he tries to make it happen, but he finds it hard getting word to the Manly players. Finally he speaks to Con Ange, whose name is familiar in rugby league circles, and as quick as that two players turn up to see Natesha, Daly Cherry-Evans and Kieran Foran. For a brief moment, they bring sunlight to her life. "They made her feel like a little superstar," says Darren. This is just five weeks ago and, through the entire hour they sit with her, Cherry-Evans keeps asking who her favourite player is. She refuses to answer. "She couldn't stop smiling," Darren says. She was smitten by it. Just before they part ways, Foran remarks from nowhere that he is going to go home and give his daughter a kiss. "You don't realise this stuff happens," he says. Natesha passed away on Friday, just 98 days after she walked into hospital seemingly healthy. Her funeral is in Goulburn on Thursday. This Saturday, Foran and Cherry-Evans head onto a football field, on opposite sides this time, doing what they can to help their countries win the Four Nations. They are critical to their teams chances, as they will be at Manly for a long time to come. They are more than wonderful footballers players. Their quality, something Natesha identified long ago, will hold Manly in good stead for many seasons to come. After they left Natesha told her dad she had a small crush on Cherry-Evans. "That's when we learned he was the cute one," Darren says. And she thought Kieran was pretty special, too. To be a part of Bear Cottage or to make a donation, visit bearcottage.chw.edu.au or call 9976 8300. Originally published as Real reason Manly needs DCE, Foran