There was an air of quiet reflection when Penrith walked onto the Accor Stadium turf for their captain’s run before last year’s grand final.
In the middle of the ground, coach Ivan Cleary stood alongside his two assistants, Cameron Ciraldo and Andrew Webster.
So much of the lead-up to the grand final against Parramatta had been about the departures of Api Koroisau and Viliame Kikau. But on that sunny Saturday afternoon, Cleary was entitled to feel a little circumspect knowing he had only 80 minutes of football left before Ciraldo and Webster rode off to start their own head coaching careers at Canterbury and the New Zealand Warriors, respectively.
Ciraldo and Webster go head-to-head for the first time on Sunday afternoon. They have both hit the ground running with the Bulldogs and Warriors, notching two wins from the opening three rounds.
Cleary must feel like a proud father watching his sons in action.
Cleary had known for a long time that Ciraldo and Webster were ready to take on a top job elsewhere. In an ideal world, they wouldn’t have departed the foot of the mountains in the same year. But rugby league is anything but an ideal world.
The last hurrah ... Ivan Cleary with Andrew Webster and Cameron Ciraldo at last year’s grand final captain’s run.Credit: Rhett Wyman/SMH
Cleary, Webster and Ciraldo spent the Saturday night before the decider in his hotel room, enjoying a few quiet beers; taking a moment to reflect.
There were a few more beers the following night after the Panthers’ 28-12 triumph, before everyone went their separate ways for the World Cup.
Cleary concedes he knew he was on borrowed time with his assistants; that he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold them back much longer.
“For those guys to get head coaching roles, and good ones that suited them, I couldn’t be happier for them,” Cleary says.
Cameron Ciraldo has bagged two wins at the Bulldogs.Credit: Louie Douvis
“Both of them had done very solid apprenticeships. They had enjoyed success as assistant coaches, and in their own right with the [under] twenties [teams].
“Coaching isn’t rocket science. They will do it their own way. They’ll take some stuff from what we’ve done, but it’s a collaborative process.
“They’re mates. When we come up against each other, we’ll go as hard as we can, but they’re friends first and foremost.”
Cleary knows the Warriors and Bulldogs are on the up, which will make life easier for Webster, 41, and 38-year-old Ciraldo.
Andrew Webster.Credit: NRL Photos
“Webby was at the Warriors before, which is important – it’s a different culture over there,” Cleary says. “His nature will work there, and they are ready to go up.
“The Dogs are the same. They’ve had a bunch of different rebuilds that haven’t worked, but they’ve got the funds, good players and they’re ready to go forward as well.”
Ciraldo has generated plenty of hype. He was on the radar of St George Illawarra and Wests Tigers before he decided on Belmore. Craig Fitzgibbon was also keen on using his good mate as an assistant when handed his own head coaching gig at Cronulla.
However, while Webster was the man who oversaw the Panthers’ attack in recent years, he never generated the same interest – at least not externally.
Webster has even got the Warriors halves – the often-maligned Shaun Johnson and Te Maire Martin, who has made a miraculous return after suffering a brain injury – humming.
Webster, a former Tigers assistant, did not want to talk up the clash against Ciraldo, preferring to put the spotlight on his players. It’s straight out of the Cleary playbook, as the Panthers mentor has adopted the same mantra in the past 18 months.
But Panthers superstar Nathan Cleary certainly sung Webster’s praises.
“Webby is a genuinely top bloke,” he says. “I thought a lot of the time at Penrith he wasn’t getting the wraps. A lot of it deservedly went to ‘Ciro’ and Dad, and when ‘Baz’ [Trent Barrett] was here, he got a lot of credit.
“When Webby was here, he was in the shadows, but he didn’t mind that. There was no ego about what he was doing, but he added a lot to what we were doing. I loved spending time with him and having a chat about footy.”
Nathan and Ivan Cleary will be at the Panthers together until at least the end of 2026.Credit: NRL Photos
Fellow Panthers skipper Isaah Yeo said he had noticed a bit of Webster and Panthers polish on the Warriors attack, and some of the shapes they had thrown at opposition sides.
“They are great people, they love the game, and if you have those two boxes ticked, the rest will flow,” he said of Ciraldo and Webster.
While Webster didn’t want to talk about himself, he was happy to praise his mate Ciraldo.
“He’s obviously doing a really good job [at the Bulldogs],” Webster said last week. “He’s got them going really well. They’re full of energy and excitement, so really happy for him and the way the Dogs are going.”
Ciraldo described the Warriors’ play so far as “brilliant”, praising their recruitment in the off-season.
The early season buzz around the Warriors isn’t just restricted to fans. Veteran halfback Johnson pointed to the off-field influence of Webster.
“I don’t know if I can pinpoint one thing. The culture he’s brought in and things he’s implemented away from the footy field has been the most impressive in my eyes,” Johnson said.
“He’s got the boys connected away from footy, he always encourages us to get together and socialise and buy into anything we want to do.
“When it comes to training he’s very tactical, he’s come from an environment that has had a lot of success, so he knows what that looks like. For us to understand that and drive what he wants, that’s when it all comes together.”
Andrew Webster – the Herald’s chief sports writer, not the Warriors coach – wrote an article about the Godfathers of coaching – Warren Ryan, Ron Willey, Jack Gibson, Wayne Bennett and Tim Sheens – and how they had produced the next generation of coaches, and shaped the game.
In Sheens’ case, he helped develop Craig Bellamy and Ricky Stuart, who later influenced the likes of Stephen Kearney, Brad Arthur, Shane Flanagan and even Cleary, who played and then spent time as an assistant to Stuart.
Nearly 20 years on, Cleary himself is shaping the next coaching generation.
He would dread any talk of him doing that, but Ciraldo and Webster will be forever grateful for Cleary. In a few years, Bulldogs and Warriors fans might be, too.
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