NRL grand final: The inside word on Penrith’s quiet achiever Ivan Cleary

Penrith’s taciturn coach is anything but reserved around the loyal players who love him, DAVID RICCIO uncovers the real Ivan Cleary.

Ivan Cleary is on the verge of taking a seat at the table alongside legendary coach Jack Gibson. Picture: Getty Images

Penrith players can count the amount of times coach Ivan Cleary has blown-up on one hand.

In fact, they can count them on one finger.

“Magic Round, Suncorp Stadium, against the Wests Tigers, 2019,” co-captain Isaah Yeo says without hesitation.

“We deserved it. That’s the only one though.’’

Penrith’s brick with eyes, Moses Leota, answers just as quick.

“It was a Magic Round game up in Brisbane in 2019 where we went off the rails against the Wests Tigers (losing 30-4) and he was blowing us up because we played trash,” Leota said.

“That was the first and last time.”

Unsung Penrith backrower Scott Sorensen missed the memorable Magic Round spray of ‘19. He arrived at Penrith in 2021.

“I’ve never seen anyone so cool, calm and collected,’’ Sorensen said.

“I’ve been here for three years and I don’t think I’ve ever heard him raise his voice.’’

Ivan Cleary is on the verge of taking a seat at the table alongside legendary coach Jack Gibson. Picture: Getty Images

The reason we’re passing the tape recorder under the nose of those that turn up to work under Cleary every day is to better understand the man that is on the verge of taking a seat at the table alongside legendary coach Jack Gibson.

Who is the coach that has managed to steer Penrith to four consecutive grand finals?

Who is the coach chasing three straight premierships, a feat that hasn’t been achieved since Gibson 40-years ago?

Sorensen’s eyes begin to well with tears as he pauses to give his response.

“I’ve got so many stories away from football about Ivan,’’ Sorensen said.

“We were based up in Queensland during the 2021 Covid bubble season and we were isolated from our families.

“One day, we were all called into a room for a 9.15am team meeting and we all sit down.

Ivan and Nathan Cleary celebrate in the change rooms after their win over Parramatta in the 2022 grand final. Picture: NRL Photos/Gregg Porteous

“Ivan asks us all to look at the big screen … I’m actually getting emotional about it now … but up on the screen are my son (Hudson, 2) and my wife (Elle).

“It was my son’s second birthday and the whole team sang Happy Birthday to him.

“Little things like that are powerful.

“That creates such a trust. It creates such a bond. Something simple like that means so much to a player.

“It means the world.

“He’s a coach you want to play for. He’s a coach you want to run through a brick wall for.’’

Sorensen’s brilliant insight was enabled because the man himself politely declined a grand final interview with this column.

“I do my best work in the shadows,” Cleary replied.

The response came as no shock at all.

Cleary has never been a coach that craves media attention. He only does as much media as he’s required too.

Ivan Cleary, the ‘coach you want to run through a brick wall for’. Picture: NRL Photos

He will respond to journalists calls, but he has been known to take a day or two to respond.

In a world of immediacy where stories are ‘old’ within an hour of it breaking, Cleary’s response time has often frustrated, to the point of turning off, some members of the press.

Winning certainly helps.

But if, and it’s a big if, the Panthers ever come back down from their mountain high, Cleary’s laissez-faire style with the media could come back to bite him.

In fairness, Cleary isn’t being overtly difficult.

The 52-year-old father of four, including champion halfback Nathan, is just being himself.

Matt Nable, outstanding actor and a jewel for Fox League as the best hype-man in the game, first met Cleary when they were both playing in the lower grades for Manly in the early 1990s.

“You could walk a 1000 kilometres across any terrain and you will never meet a more genuine, gentle, good person than Ivan Cleary,” Nable said.

“I’ve known him for 30-years. He plays his cards close to his chest, but as a human being and as a man, I love him.’’

An almond milk coffee drinker, Cleary can be found most mornings inside the Panthers gym reconditioning his leg after the blood clot incident that moved from a knee infection and to his lung, which threatened his life in 2022.

Inside his office, you’ll often find Cleary looking at spreadsheets and highlighted print-outs aligned for every player in his 30-man squad laid out across his desk.

Departing Panther Stephen Crichton says it’s an office door that is always open.

“The biggest way to explain him is loving,” Crichton said.

“He doesn’t just care about footy. He thinks about your off-field and have a chat to you.

“When I first started, I was a bit scared to go and talk to him.

“Now I’ve got a friendship with him where I can go up and talk to him about whatever I need.’’

Penrith recruitment manager Jim Jones has been at the club for so long he arrived when Dahdah was the major sponsor.

He talks to Cleary every day.

“Ivan is a quiet bloke, but I don’t think he tolerates rubbish,’’ Jones said.

“Nathan (Cleary) is the best player, but he’s treated equally and in-turn, they all treat each other equally.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re in first grade or NSW Cup.

“That’s why when he pulls up a player (to the NRL), they feel comfortable playing there.

“He’s proud of all the boys, but you know what he really likes? A quiet achiever.’’

No surprises there.

Originally published as NRL grand final: The inside word on Penrith’s quiet achiever Ivan Cleary