Dally M Coach of the Year: Ivan Cleary’s redemption after Phil Gould sacking

Ivan Cleary’s resurrection at Penrith is one of the great NRL stories of 2020 - and his Dally M Coach of the Year win will taste extra special considering he was sacked by Phil Gould five years to the day.

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary is one win away from complete a perfect season.

Ivan Cleary doesn’t look like a man in need of a nap anymore.

Greyer? Absolutely.

Yet five years after initially being punted by Penrith – and famously branded “tired” by the man who marched him, then GM Phil Gould – Cleary suddenly stands on the cusp of an incredible NRL redemption story.

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Panthers coach Ivan Cleary is one win away from complete a perfect season.

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Indeed, some would argue he already has it.

Especially after being named Dally M Coach of the Year.

With Cleary the undeniable pick in a year of coaching excellence.

A season where Craig Bellamy not only makes another NRL decider himself, but gets there with a Melbourne side based for so long now on the Sunshine Coast.

Same as Todd Payten was catapulted into a Warriors side housed out of Terrigal, and with players either heading home, missing family or borrowed from other clubs – then succeeded anyway.

Wayne Bennett got the Bunnies up late when nobody believed it possible.

Ditto Ricky Stuart with Canberra.

While Trent Robinson’s push for that historic threepeat was cruelled in consecutive weeks by a combined total of less than a converted try.

The Cleary-Gould partnership ran into major problems.

Yet all the while, Cleary’s Panthers have kept winning.

Currently, 17 straight — and counting.

Which is the continuation of some story for the bloke, right?

For proof, ask the Wests Tigers club he quit.

Or Bennett, who allegedly had a handshake deal for the same gig.

Hell, even Gould was eventually forced out of that Panthers Academy he built to ensure Cleary could return with full control over players, club, roster, everything.

Oh, yeah, the bloke is also coaching son Nathan.

Which is a wonderful yarn in NRL Grand Final week.

Well done, Dad! Nathan Cleary congratulates his father, Ivan, on his awards win.

But back in April, when the No.7 had ageing journalists Googling the phrase Tiktok?

Um, not so much.

Same deal last September, when the Panthers had slumped to 10th and poor old Nath was struggling to find points, linebreaks, try assists, confidence or much of anything really.

Yet now, Team Cleary is one win from doing what so many thought impossible.

Which obviously, hasn’t been easy.

Or without drama.

With ‘On the Bus’ to forever own its contentious place in rugby league vernacular.

Yet exactly five years to the day since he was marched from Panthers HQ — and almost to the hour that a Panthers press release announced his sacking — Cleary has been awarded the Dally M gong.

The Clearys have their eyes on the big prize.

His second, having also collected the trophy in 2014.

Which itself shows how crazy life for an NRL coach can be.

Yet nobody is more deserving.

With Cleary not only recruiting astutely this year, or overhauling his side’s attack, but continually showing the same footy smarts that once made him such a great player.

As recently too as last Saturday night against South Sydney, when the Panthers coach shocked everyone by starting Tyrone May in the centres ahead of Brent Naden – and won, big time.

Elsewhere, the coach has not only transformed his son into arguably the competition’s best talent, but also brought the best out of so many other players you either didn’t know or thought little of back in March.

Of course, he’s had help, too.

With his entire football department – including assistants Trent Barrett and Cam Ciraldo – handling the chaos of this COVID season better than any other club.

Too readily analysts point to, say, the lack of Panthers injuries as luck.

Yet internally, the players credit a footy staff who, led by their coach, has continually found unique ways to stay ahead in this most unique of seasons.

Which is why now, they sit within 80 minutes of a premiership.

That, and the ultimate redemption story for a Panthers coach once walked from the same joint.