Ivan Cleary has no plans to jump off Tigers’ bus, will commit future to club on Saturday
WESTS Tigers coach Ivan Cleary will on Saturday declare his unequivocal commitment to the club, ruling out any suggestion of an immediate return to Penrith to coach his son Nathan.
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THEY’RE the words every Wests Tigers fan has been waiting to hear.
Ivan Cleary is on the bus.
The Wests Tigers coach will on Saturday declare his unequivocal commitment to the club, ruling out any suggestion of an immediate return to Penrith to coach his son Nathan.
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Breaking his silence following Penrith’s sacking of coach Anthony Griffin on Monday, the Panthers first-choice replacement will quash five days of uncertainty felt by every Tigers supporter who feared that the 47-year-old would angle for a release from his current contract.
Cleary will explain at press conference scheduled for 9.45am at Wests Leagues Club on Saturday morning that he will be fulfilling the remainder of his two-and-half year deal with the Tigers.
The news will put an end to all speculation linking Cleary back to Penrith and in-turn, force the Panthers into directing their target elsewhere.
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The Saturday Telegraph has learned that Cleary has found the week emotionally-taxing.
However, he’s looking forward to voicing his commitment to the Tigers, showing respect to the club he has helped re-build and focusing on the club’s vital clash with Canberra on Sunday afternoon.
A man of integrity, Cleary is most uncomfortable with the way his character has been questioned — given he never once asked the Tigers for a formal release from his current contract.
What he won’t deny is that the lure of coaching his son Nathan in the NRL remains a genuine, and shared ambition between father and son, however it will only occur when the timing for both parties is right.
Wests Tigers chief executive Justin Pascoe had been justifiably defiant about Cleary remaining with the club from the moment word broke on Monday that it was the Tigers mentor, who the Panthers wanted to replace Griffin with.
The Tigers went as far as to assess their legal options.
“We’re not going to be pushed aside, bullied or rail roaded by anyone,’’ Pascoe said.
“I’m bitterly disappointed that a rival club has decided that it’s appropriate practice to try and poach a coach with two-and-a-half years left on his contract.
“This club and myself have to make decisions that are in the best interests of the Wests Tigers first and foremost, our fans our members and our stakeholders, and giving our head coach to a rival club is not a decision that is in the best interest of the fans or the stakeholders.”
A strategic move by the Panthers, it was designed so Griffin could be replace with a proven NRL coach, but primarily to ensure Penrith’s star halfback Nathan Cleary - off contract at the end of 2019 - remained at the foot of the mountains to play under his father.
Where Nathan signs his next contract and how long for, could prove a crucial precursor to Cleary’s coaching future.
First and foremost, the Tigers have one last chance to keep their slim finals hopes alive against the Raiders.
Cleary’s commitment could prove the perfect tonic the entire Tigers playing group needs.