Penrith mentor Ivan Cleary has revealed an interest in stepping into the representative coaching arena, one of the last boxes left to tick in his storied career.
Cleary and his Panthers staff will return to work on Thursday after the four-time premiership-winning coach spent a month in Europe, where he watched son Nathan help the Kangaroos to a 3-0 Ashes whitewash over England.
In a candid and wide-ranging interview, Cleary sat down with this masthead to discuss his hope of one day watching sons Nathan and Jett play together, why he will “never say never” to coaching PNG in the NRL and how a hybrid game between the codes could help circumvent the threat of breakaway competition Rugby 360.
Having won four successive premierships – a streak that was only broken when the Broncos bundled Penrith out in an epic preliminary final – there appears little left for Cleary to achieve at club level. The 54-year-old said he is fully invested in seeing out the final two years of his contract with the Panthers, but he is “intrigued” by the possibility of testing himself in the representative arena.
“It’s really something I’ve never thought of throughout my career,” Cleary said.
“I have thought about it a bit more lately, I don’t know why. I’m not sure whether I really want to or not, but it’s starting to intrigue me a little bit more, yeah.
Ivan and Nathan Cleary steered Penrith to four consecutive premierships.Credit: Getty Images
“Today I’ve just come back after being around the Australian camp. There’s something pretty cool about coaching the best players, good players with guys from other teams that I’ve coached against. It’s a different dynamic.
“Just the whole thing where you don’t have a lot of time [to prepare] and so that’s something I haven’t really done much of. I was assistant coach of the Kiwis in a World Cup, I really enjoyed that as well. One of the things I really liked about it was working with guys from other teams and just trying to get a team together quickly.
“I don’t know, I definitely think about it more than I used to.”
A young Jett Cleary with his famous father and brother, Ivan and Nathan, in 2017.Credit: James Alcock
Cleary, who has worked as a consultant for former NSW coach Brad Fittler at State of Origin level, said he wasn’t sure whether he could juggle a representative and club job, but added: “I’m not saying no down the track.”
While premiership success eluded Cleary at the Panthers last season, youngest son Jett edged closer to an NRL debut after winning NSW Cup grand finals with the Warriors. Cleary said he looked forward to the prospect of Jett, who also represented Ukraine last month, getting the call-up to first grade.
“Of course that’s the ultimate goal for anyone who plays,” Cleary said during a chat in the Kia Showroom in Kingswood, where he joined Nathan in becoming an ambassador for the brand’s Tasman ute.
“Hopefully it happens one day. And if it happens, I just hope there’s some way I can be there.”
Asked about the prospect of coaching against Jett, Cleary said: “I did it twice against Nat. I didn’t really like it.
“My wife hated it more. And he beat us twice, too. If that’s how it works out, that’s how it works out.
“The most important thing is that it works out for Jett.”
Cleary said it would be a dream come true if the trio could all be at the same club at the same time.
“I say yes without really considering who falls where,” Cleary said.
“I’ve said this before, one of the advantages of coaching Nathan is that he’s an automatic selection each week. I think it’d be a little harder if that wasn’t the case. It would depend on other things, I suppose. It’d be pretty cool though; it’d be fun. I’d love to see the boys play together one day.”
Jett Cleary in action for the Warriors in their NRL State Championship grand final against the Burleigh Bears.Credit: Getty Images
Perhaps they could be in the halves together?
“Yeah, that would be brilliant,” Cleary said. “If I was involved in that, that would be good, too. That would be something I’d love to see one day. It could be for Ukraine!”
PNG will enter the NRL competition in 2028, just as Ivan and Nathan Cleary become free agents. Some pundits have called for the Pacific nation to make the Clearys an offer they can’t refuse to ensure they are immediately competitive.
“You never say no to anything,” Cleary said. “It seems a fair way off at the moment.”
Told that PNG is just 12 months away from setting up in earnest, Cleary said: “You know what, I’m really excited about this.
“There’s probably a lot of questions about how that’s all gonna work, but I’ve been there a couple of times and just seeing the love and passion of those guys have for their footy, it’s really exciting.
“Even seeing the way they played recently, you can just imagine the inspiration coming out of that place at the moment.
“It’s a brave decision to put them in, but I think it’s pretty exciting. It’s the only place where rugby league’s the national sport, so it seems right.”
Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary is an ambassador for KIA.
Two leading footballing nurseries, Barker College in Hornsby and St Gregory’s College, Campbelltown, participated in a hybrid clash last month. Played under a mix of rugby union and league rules, it was the first exhibition of its kind in Australia for nearly a decade.
Cleary believes the concept has merit and could help ward off the threat that Rugby 360 poses to rugby league.
“I definitely think there’s an opportunity for both codes to come together and put on some games of substance,” he said.
“I also think it’s pretty cool for players of both codes to be able to come and have a foot in each camp. With the pool of talent, maybe there’s a way we can actually coexist.
“I mean obviously you’ve got the [Rugby] 360 thing sniffing around and if it’s got the legs and the backing that it sounds like it’s got, it might be better to team up with those people …
“It just has a sniff about it like Super League; the people involved don’t tend to take no for an answer and [then there’s] the sort of money they’re talking. The reality is our sport has a ceiling to it. There’s not a lot of sports like that.
“As the game grows, I’m sure players are looking over the fence. [I was] just in the UK and you’re surrounded by football and the money they make, you know what I mean?”
Cleary said a clash between the Kangaroos and All Blacks would have huge appeal.
“I think the players would be [keen],” he said. “You look at Origin, right, if you can generate the Kangaroos playing the All Blacks, I think it would be fairly interesting.
“The sort of money [it would generate], I think the players would be interested in that. Both codes can benefit.
“Our sport’s shown that it’s certainly run by guys that are heavily influenced by business and money.”
Asked if he would like to coach the Kangaroos in such a clash, Cleary replied: “Yeah. I’d need some guidance around rugby, though. That would be fun.”
Nathan Cleary has copped some criticism for his performances during the Kangaroos tour, but Ivan said there were few opportunities for either team due to the slow ruck speed.
“I thought he did well,” Cleary said of his son. “I thought he tackled really well. I thought his defence with [Cameron] Munster was really good.
“It’s an interesting combination I think, him and Munster, they go well together.
“I think his role was just to try to get him and the rest of the guys the ball.
“It was hard for any of the halves really, obviously the English guys struggled a bit just because the rucks are so so slow that you don’t really get any chance to get momentum.
“At the end of the day, it’s all about winning and they won 3-0.”
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