Nathan Cleary refuses to buy into talk of Wests Tigers v Panthers hype

Ivan Cleary was in no mood to discuss the Wests Tigers as he prepares to line up against his former side for the first time on Friday night.

• Match report: Storm dominate Panthers

• BUZZ: Saint, sinner, shoosh

Ivan Cleary was in no mood to discuss the Wests Tigers as he prepares to line up against his former side for the first time on Friday night.

Cleary had a highly publicised split from the Tigers to reunite with the Panthers this year.

But Cleary refused to go in-depth about the clash as he oversees a Penrith side who have won just one of their opening three games since Cleary returned to the Panthers.

Cleary said there would be “no problem” in ensuring his side would not be distracted by the external interest in the clash.

When asked by The Sunday Telegraph if he expected any extra hype surrounding the game Cleary retorted “from who”.

When told there would be extra fan and media interest Cleary replied. “It’s not going to worry me.”

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary is ‘looking forward’ to the hype surrounding Penrith’s match against the Wests Tigers in round four. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

When probed again by The Sunday Telegraph about the rematch Cleary ended the nine-minute post-game media conference by saying; “How many times … I think you’ve asked that question enough,” Cleary said.

“Seriously.”

When told “it is going to be spoken about all week”, a calm Cleary replied. “Yeah good. I look forward to it” before walking out of the room.