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Ivan Cleary coached the New Zealand Warriors between 2006-2011, taking them to four finals series and one grand final. With a bang average squad in 2011 who only finished 6th on the ladder, winning just 16 of the 26 games, he managed to take them to the grand final nine years after their last appearance.
Though the Warriors had a heartbreaking loss, going down 24-10 to Manly Sea Eagles, they had a lot to be proud of, particularly their preliminary final win over minor premiers Melbourne Storm 20-12 at AAMI park.
New Zealand went into the grand final as major underdogs. Having to travel to Sydney, only three players having grand final experience compared to Manly’s nine, plus their coach who had won one only four years prior. With 19 errors compared to Manly’s 9 the Sea Eagles went on to take their eighth premiership.
(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
After the Warriors successful 2011 season Cleary decided it was time to come back to Sydney and became head coach of the Penrith Panthers for the 2012-2015 seasons, taking them to only one finals series during the four years. The Panthers’ 2012 season couldn’t have gone worse for the new coach, finishing second last after large array of injuries, only winning 8 of their 24 games.
Penrith’s seasons didn’t get better until 2014 when they finished 4th on the ladder and made it all the way to the preliminary finals, where they unfortunately lost by six to Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
After missing out on the wooden spoon by a win over Newcastle Knights in 2015 Ivan Cleary was sacked effective immediately.
After a year on the sidelines Ivan was given a lifeline by West Tigers for the 2017-2020 seasons. Starting off strongly, the Tigers won their first game 34-18 against South Sydney Rabbitohs but from there it was all downhill, only winning six games for the rest of the season and finishing second last.
2018 was a better year for the club, finishing 9th on the ladder only just missing out on the top eight. After starting the season 5 wins from 6 games the Tigers looked to be on an upwards trajectory, though halfway through the season they lost their way, with only four wins between rounds 7 and round 20. A heart wrenching loss to South Sydney 51-10 to finish the season sealed Ivan’s time at the Tigers, with him asking to being released for the remaining two years of his contract.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Ivan returned to his role of head coach at Penrith in 2019, but his first year back at the club was questionable as Panthers finished 10th with 11 wins and 13 losses. Since then, Cleary’s side has played three grand finals in a row, currently sit top of the table and are seemingly on their way to another one. Under Cleary’s second spell, Penrith have won 79 games and only lost 10, with a single draw.
They’ve had some momentous games along the way, beating Canberra Raiders 53-12 earlier on in the year, beating Cronulla Sharks 48-0 a in round 9 last year, as well as beating South Sydney Rabbitohs 56-12 a few weeks later in round 11.
With Cleary’s two premiership victories there’s only a few coaches that have won more; two of those being Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett, both of whom are considered two of the best coaches in the modern era. Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has won three legitimate titles in 2012, 2017 and 2020. Wayne Bennett won four premierships over his years with the Brisbane Broncos in 1992, 1998, 2000 and 2006, and one with St George Illawarra Dragons in 2010.
With the majority of Cleary’s current squad under 30, the Panthers could stay on top of the competition for years to come, meaning that he could very well equal Craig Bellamy’s record and start making his way to Wayne Bennett’s.
So, should Ivan Cleary be considered alongside Craig Bellamy and Wayne Bennett as the big three of the NRL era?
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