His team won the minor premiership with two rounds remaining and have dropped just three games all year – while missing a host of superstars because of injury, suspension and Origin duty for chunks of the season.
Yet when it comes to the coach of the year debate, Penrith’s Ivan Cleary has barely rated a mention.
Cleary’s achievements have certainly not gone unnoticed at the foot of the mountains, and the premiers will collect the JJ Giltinan Shield in front of a gleeful crowd at BlueBet Stadium on Friday evening.
When it comes to crowning the coach of the year, the talk has focused on North Queensland’s Todd Payten, who has North Queensland – a side tipped to finish in the bottom four – sitting second with two rounds to go, and first-year head coach Craig Fitzgibbon, whose Cronulla side lie third.
However, forgotten man Cleary has kept his young group hungry for back-to-back titles, and instilled plenty of confidence in the club’s fringe players to step up and do a job.
The 51-year-old, who also refused to let his own health issues impact on the playing group, was named Dally M coach of the year in 2014 then again in 2020. He narrowly missed out to Craig Bellamy last year, and if the early mail is right, he will be overlooked for any individual gongs in the coming weeks.
Why has Ivan Cleary barely rated a mention in the NRL coach of the year debate? Credit:Oscar Colman/SMH
Panthers co-captain Isaah Yeo said of Cleary’s credentials: “I can see the cases people are making for other coaches, and that’s because their teams have exceeded expectations … but we’ve won the minor premiership, dropped three games all year, so I feel like Ivan is hard to look past.
“I know I’m biased, I’m a Penrith boy and he’s my coach, but any other year and he’d be the front-runner. What he has done with the boys coming in, they’ve all been really good for us and had that next-man attitude. It’s the coach who still needs to give them the confidence to do that.
“He’s cool, calm and collected. He’s really honest with the players. He should be the front-runner. At the moment, he’s the one not being spoken about enough.”
Back-rower Liam Martin said Cleary had not changed his ways this year after the club’s premiership success, and was happy to delegate responsibility to his trusty coaching staff and the senior players.
Liam Martin seals the game against Souths – and the minor premiership – last weekCredit:Getty Images
It was the players who came up with the major theme being ‘respect’ this year, which Cleary had a final say in.
“Respect for each other, respect for the game and respect for the opposition has been a big one; Ivan has been massive on building good values,” Martin said.
Panthers great Greg Alexander is a good friend of Cleary but said even rival fans could appreciate the 2022 record, not to mention the coach was without his superstar son Nathan across the opening three rounds because of injury, then the final five rounds owing to a suspension.
“There were seven players missing through Origin, so you know your club is in a good place when they can keep winning without your stars, and that also requires good coaching,” Alexander said. “Ivan should be a standout choice [for coach of the year].”
The Panthers were granted their wish to receive the JJ Giltinan Shield on home soil before they head to Townsville for the final round of the regular season where they are expected to rest a host of players.
Prop James Fisher-Harris returns from suspension on Friday, while playmaker Jarome Luai was named to play his first game back from a knee injury.
