Coach Cleary keeps cool head in bid for NRL three-peat
He could be about to win a third-straight NRL premiership but if Penrith coach Ivan Cleary is at all nervous, it doesn’t show.
At times this year, Cleary could have been forgiven for thinking a shot at a grand final three-peat may have been slipping away from him.
Penrith lost to Brisbane and Parramatta on the back of their World Club Challenge defeat to St Helens in the early part of the season.
Along the way they’ve also had to do without halfback Nathan Cleary and five-eighth Jarome Luai through injury.
But throughout the Panthers boss, on the outside at least, has kept a cool head.
“It’s in my nature, I’m a bit like the duck on the pond,” Cleary told AAP ahead of Sunday’s grand final against Brisbane.
“Sometimes it’s not always (calm) on the inside.
“But in my job it’s important to be consistent.”
Cleary has reason to be chilled out given Penrith’s success over the last four seasons as they have announced themselves as NRL heavyweights.
The Panthers have enjoyed a 79 per cent win rate since 2020.
“He’s so hard to read, there’s no emotion ever,” former Penrith hooker Api Koroisau said of Cleary.
The only time the Panthers coach switches out of his laconic state is when he has to defend his team’s character, as he did at Thursday’s pre-grand final press conference.
“That’s the way it’s best to be, but you’ve seen other guys like Craig Bellamy who is incredibly successful (get animated),” Cleary said.
“The most important thing is to be yourself.”
Perhaps one of Cleary’s greatest gifts is his economy of words and the delivery of them.
“He doesn’t get angry,” Luai said.
“He’s not a forceful sort of coach. The words he uses, and the tone of his voice, you hear the disappointment.
“It still hurts as much as getting sprayed – it’s probably worse.”
The rare occasion Cleary has let loose on his team is well-remembered, to the extent it’s almost become a moment of legend at the club.
“There was a game in 2019 against the Tigers, I didn’t play in it but the boys tell stories,” back-rower Liam Martin said.
“They had put 30 on us by halftime, that was probably the last time he sprayed the boys.
“He’s an incredible coach and he deserves more recognition for what he’s done at Penrith the last couple of years – it all comes off the back of his calm demeanour.”
