Ivan Cleary lets loose at Penrith Panthers awards night

Ivan Cleary’s personality turns out to be quite strong despite his stern demeanour.

Just hours after Penrith’s amazing Grand Final victory, let’s say a very exhausted-looking Cleary gave a humorous interview on the Today Show.

However, Cleary, who appeared sober and prepared, elevated his spoken word during a trip down memory lane at the club’s annual awards ceremony on Wednesday.

The 52-year-old Cleary led Penrith from 2012 to 2015 before being fired. After taking a hiatus from coaching, he joined Wests Tigers in 2017.

The next season, Cleary’s name was linked to a return to the Panthers, but he famously issued a statement saying he “intends to honour this contract” and remain with the Tigers.

Less than three months later, he left again and moved back to Penrith. During his tremendously hilarious speech, Cleary made reference to a coffee he had with Panthers chairman Dave O’Neill.

“He simply asked, “Mate, do you want to come back?” while looking me square in the eye.” clearly starts.

“I yelled, ‘Hey?'”

“Do you want to return and coach the Panthers?” he asked.

And I simply said, “F**k yeah.”

“I informed my wife Bec when I got home, and she exclaimed, ‘What?!’.

“That set off a chain of occasions that brought me back to the club in 2019.” The club had so much potential that three years in a row, they reached the finals.

“The lower classes had a lot of success, and there were lots of good youngsters playing there.

The nucleus of the team had made their debuts, just like Yeoy (Isaah Yeo), Nat (Nathan Cleary), Dly (Dylan Edwards), and Romy (Jarome Luai).

The quantity of Parramatta jerseys he would see in the area, according to Cleary, was an immediate source of resentment for him. He therefore went out to instill some pride in the black jersey.

The people back then, he continued, “liked their team, but it didn’t feel like they loved it.

“In the suburbs, not many people were sporting Panthers jerseys. There were a lot of Parramatta supporters, and there are still way too many of them in this area.

Thankfully, there aren’t many jerseys to be seen. There are numerous Souths supporters and newcomers in this area. I considered this to be a significant opportunity.

That was a preview of what was to come as the room burst into hysterics, screams, and cheers.

The 2020 Grand Final sprang to mind, when Cleary was certain his team would be far too powerful for the Melbourne Storm.

We believed we could win the Grand Final that particular year, he recalled.

The Melbourne Storm ended up kicking our asses that evening, as it turned out.

“But they did teach us a lesson that night.”

“They taught us a lesson in what it takes to win big games.”

Penrith handled the disappointment in the nicest way possible.

Returning to the decider the following year, the Panthers defeated South Sydney 14-12 to kickstart their dynasty and end an 18-year hiatus between titles.

Penrith then defeated Parramatta 28-12 to secure a second consecutive title before last weekend’s all-time comeback victory over the Broncos.

Cleary was determined to give the players credit for their ability to overcome adversity.

“What you didn’t see was the hours and hours and hours of practice,” he added of his comeback victory in Brisbane.

“Mental practice, mental rehearsal, not just physical practice about how they play.”

“When they’re down, understand that you’ll have doubts in games.”

“I’ve never seen a team have to come back from such a large deficit and still play the way we do.”

“There was no random chip and chases or offloads out their arse or anything.”

“Those players are f**king incredible.” “All I want is for everyone to celebrate them.”

He’d also planned a memorable ending phrase that referenced both Star Wars and his team’s 2024 plans.

“On that note, may the fourth be with you.”