Ivan Cleary has declined to douse speculation linking him to the vacant NSW job, although his grand final counterpart has warned it’s too big a task for a club coach.
The Blues are on the lookout for a replacement for Michael Maguire, who has taken up a three-year deal at the Broncos. Melbourne mentor Craig Bellamy is the last man to juggle an NRL head coaching role with State of Origin commitments, having overseen the Blues in 2008 to 2010.
The NSWRL’s preference is to appoint a candidate without club affiliations due to the enormity of the role and potential conflicts of interest at the selection table. However, sources with knowledge of the situation not permitted to speak publicly said the state body would consider a club coach if the ilk of grand finalists Cleary or Bellamy wanted the role.
Several of Cleary’s star Blues players - including Brian To’o, Isaah Yeo and Liam Martin - have publicly backed the coach to handle both roles. Cleary has previously been spotted in the Blues coaching box when Brad Fittler was in charge.
However, Cleary was coy when asked about the NSW job at Thursday’s grand final fan fest at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Circular Quay.
“Is that [question] for me?” Cleary said. “No idea.”
Penrith Panthers Coach Ivan Cleary.Credit: Janie Barrett
However, Bellamy ruled himself out of another stint at the helm of the Blues while in charge of the Storm.
“I don’t think you could do it these days,” Bellamy said. “Isn’t it if you coach NRL, you can’t do Origin today? Myself, I would never try that again. I think it needs someone independent of coaching in the NRL. Just my opinion.”
Former Blues coach Laurie Daley and former assistant Paul McGregor would be leading contenders should Cleary not pursue the role. This masthead has been told that Canberra coach Ricky Stuart, who has coached the Blues on two separate occasions, wants to make the Raiders his sole focus.
The other talking point at Thursday’s fan fest was the tackle that initially injured Nathan Cleary’s shoulder. Melbourne forward Josh King rubbished suggestions he was trying to injure the Panthers playmaker.
“I certainly wasn’t trying to do any wrestling moves or anything like that, that people have come out and said,” King said.
“I would assume that that sort of tackle would happen multiple times a game. I don’t think there was anything in it, I certainly don’t have any grievances against Nathan. It is what it is.”
Asked if Cleary’s shoulder - the halfback reaggravated the injury in the preliminary final win against the Sharks - would be a target, King said: “I’m not on social media to be fair, so I haven’t seen all the reports about that.
“I think both sides, the forwards, that’s their job to get the teams going forward. I don’t think there’s any secret about that.”
Nathan Cleary said the King tackle was never a talking point.
“Not at all,” Cleary said. “Honestly, I didn’t even think of it at the time. It was just one of those unlucky positions and it’s just an injury.
“It’s unfortunate, a lot of things have to happen and it’s a contact sport. I didn’t even think about that after.”
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