Ivan Cleary lets loose at Penrith Panthers awards night

The notoriously tight-lipped Panthers coach has thrown the shackles off at the NRL champion’s awards night.

It turns out Ivan Cleary does have plenty of personality hidden behind that gruff exterior.

In the early hours of Monday morning, let’s say a very tired looking Cleary conducted a hilarious interview on the Today Show, only hours after Penrith’s stunning Grand Final win.

But a seemingly sober and well prepared Cleary took his spoken word to a whole new level in an expletive-laden trip down memory lane at the club’s annual awards night on Wednesday.

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The 52-year-old Cleary coached Penrith from 2012-2015 before he was sacked, moving to Wests Tigers in 2017 following a break from coaching.

Linked with a return to the Panthers the following year, Cleary famously released a statement declaring he “intends to honour this contract” and stay with the Tigers.

He was gone less than three months later, returning to Penrith, and Cleary referenced a coffee he had with Panthers chairman Dave O’Neill during his wildly entertaining speech.

Ivan Cleary during his hilarious speech and (inset) the Panthers celebrate their victory.

“He just looked me straight in the eye and said ‘mate, do you want to come back?’” Cleary begins.

“I said ‘hey?’

“He said ‘do you want to come back and coach the Panthers?’”

“And I was just like, ‘f**k yeah’.”

That was a taste of things to come as the room erupted in laughter, screaming and cheering.

Cleary then recalled the 2020 Grand Final when he was hugely confident his side would be far too strong for the Melbourne Storm.

“We went into the Grand Final that year and thought ‘f**k, no one can beat us’,” he recalled.

“As it turned out, the Melbourne Storm kicked our arse that night.

Cleary has an ice bucket poured over him by Spencer Leniu after winning the 2023 NRL Grand Final. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

“But they taught us a lesson that night.

“They taught us a lesson in what it takes to win big games.”

Penrith responded from that disappointment in the best way imaginable.

Returning to the decider the following year, the Panthers eked out a 14-12 victory over South Sydney to get their dynasty truly underway and snap an 18-year drought between premierships.

Penrith then thrashed Parramatta 28-12 to secure consecutive titles before last weekend’s all-time comeback win over the Broncos.

Cleary greets fans during the club’s Grand Final celebrations in Penrith. (Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)

Cleary was desperately eager to give credit to the players for their ability to respond to adversity.

“What you didn’t see was the hours and hours and hours of practice,” he said of that Brisbane comeback.

“Not just physical practice about how they play, but mental practice, mental rehearsal.

“When they’re down, understanding you’re going to have doubts in games.

“I’ve never seen a team have to come back from that big a deficit and yet did not step one foot out of the way we play.

“There was no like random chip and chases or offloads out their arse or anything like that.

“Those players are f**king awesome. I just want everyone to celebrate them.”

He had also prepared a memorable closing line, referencing both Star Wars and his team’s plans for 2024.

“On that note, may the fourth be with you.”