Following his third consecutive Grand Final victory as head coach of the Penrith Panthers, Ivan Cleary has disclosed he contemplated quitting the job.
Set to go down as one of the best coaches in the game of rugby league; Cleary revealed he nearly stepped down from the Penrith Panthers head coaching job in 2019. This was his first year back in charge at the club after a stint with the Wests Tigers.
The main reason he nearly stepped down was the fact that his son and future two-time Clive Churchill medallist Nathan Cleary was not playing his best football at the time.
“I was thinking about the end in that first year. I was,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“I felt very burdened by the father-son thing. Nathan wasn't playing well, and I felt guilty for that.
"I felt like a burden on him. Then I was wondering ‘maybe I'm not the right man for this job'. I just could never have imagined what the next four years would be like. I'm glad we stuck it out.”
Cleary would go on to thank former Panthers chairman Dave O'Neill. It was O'Neill who would lure him back to the club at the time without the knowledge of the club's board enticing him out of his current contract with the Wests Tigers at the time.
It was understood that Cleary and O'Neill had a handshake agreement over a $4.20 coffee at a cafe on the outskirts of Penrith, per the Herald.
“Honestly, when I went and had a coffee with Dave, I had no idea what he was going to ask me,” Cleary added.
“Honestly, I didn't. When he asked me, my whole being was like ‘absolutely'. That's just how I felt. My heart was still at Penrith.
“I love the Tigers. I do. And I'm so grateful for them, but your heart can only be in one place. When Dave asked me to come back, my heart was back in Penrith. I felt like I belonged here and that's how it worked out.”
