Ivan Cleary speaks for first time to departing stars Aaron Woods and James Tedesco

WESTS Tigers coach Ivan Cleary said he had no communication with James Tedesco and Aaron Woods regarding their futures after the duo decided to leave the club.

WESTS Tigers coach Ivan Cleary said he had no communication with stars James Tedesco and Aaron Woods regarding their futures after the duo allowed a club imposed deadline to pass.

Cleary spoke with his two players at Leichhardt Oval today before the Tigers captain’s run for the first time since the club withdrew their offers to the representative duo.

“We hadn’t had any communication so we have made the decision,” Cleary said. “As of now we are active in the market place.

“I’m not going to pass on personal information. We had a chat. They are focused for tomorrow’s game.”

Cleary said the playing group seem “OK” ahead of their clash with Canterbury tomorrow.

“A lot of this process is trying to get rid of the distractions,” Cleary said. “The job at hand is what we do on game day and that’s tomorrow against the Bulldogs.”

(L-R) West Tigers captain Aaron Woods and coach Ivan Cleary speak with the media following the round six NRL match between the North Queensland Cowboys and the Wests Tigers.

WOODS STILL SKIPPER

Woods is believed to be close to announcing a move to the team the Tigers coincidentally face on Sunday in Canterbury, still retains the captaincy duties under Cleary.

“At this stage, Aaron’s the captain of the club and he’ll remain that,” Cleary said on Saturday.

Asked if Woods would keep the role for the rest of the year, Cleary said: “I would be very surprised if that didn’t happen. I mean, he’s the captain. “I’m sure this is a difficult process for everyone involved, but he’s the captain of the team. And I’m sure he’ll show that tomorrow.”