"I had no idea what Nathan was doing when I met with Ivan," O'Neill said. "I could see Ivan's hunger and desire to want to coach his son – so he took that decision out of Nathan's hands. "From a club's perspective Bennett would have been a great choice – there's no doubting his reputation as a coach," O’Neill said.

Before the Tigers finalised their deal with Maguire, Cleary informed the club of his decision to sign with Penrith from 2021 – as he promised he would. Very little was thought of it at the time, but people at the club look back at that moment as the first real sign of what would soon unfold. It might feel like people are going to be angry with your decision but it's your life man. It was a business decision. To the point where Tigers officials were confident of securing Nathan's services for 2020 and beyond. He called the club's senior leadership group into a meeting to inform them of Penrith's interest, which was becoming increasingly apparent that it was mutual. Halfway through the year, with pressure mounting on Nathan to make a decision, he told his dad "I really don't want to leave without delivering something I could be proud of to Penrith". At first Cleary seemed keen, but that's when his incredible bond with his son began to affect his thought process. Wayne Bennett's exit from Brisbane was messy. Cleary never shied away from his desire to coach his son. It looked as though the club's seven-year finals drought was about to end, largely thanks to the steel and discipline instilled by Cleary. The player it upset the most was Packer. Players were disgruntled, staff were unhappy. He was telling me he wanted to honour his contract and that he was here, but I'm not stupid. They travelled together on family holidays and there was no bigger supporter of Cleary taking over from Jason Taylor than the CEO. He denied there was an offer on the table. Pascoe, who worked with Cleary at the Panthers, knew a lot of things about the coach's past – including his fractured relationship with Gould and Penrith after he sacked him at the end of 2015. The master and the maestro. "I was concerned, not because I thought he would leave, but I was worried for Luke Brooks. Privately, the club's hierarchy made a pact to insist Cleary would be forced to honour his deal. But the trust and unity he had built through his honesty and humility in his 18 months at the club began to erode rapidly. "I never lost a minute’s sleep over it," O'Neill said. I sent him a text after Madge put us through his army camp in pre-season and said 'f--- you'. But there was concern for how open Cleary was about linking with Nathan at the Tigers, which prompted the club to request he stopped publicly talking about it in fear of the impact it was having on halfback Luke Brooks. I can understand why the fans turned on him saying 'Ivan's a monster, the bus broke down' and all that crap.
Couple this with a desire from the Tigers to show the rugby league fraternity that they weren't a club to be bullied, and you're left with some pretty delicate negotiations. "I'm still good friends with Ivan. "Gus came to me after he'd reached an understanding with Bennett and said to me we can have him if we want him," O'Neill told NRL.com. He is a genuine man, and he's a decent man and I think deep down he would have felt that he let us down. "As a playing group, there was a bit of angst – especially for the players that came here on long-term deals to play under Ivan.

He stood up in the leadership meeting and gave Cleary a piece of his mind.

Wests Tigers veterans Robbie Farah and Benji Marshall. I'll be judged on that.

Ivan made that decision, and wore all the criticism that came with it, so Nathan could just play footy and be where he wanted to be with his mates where he started his footy. I had a good relationship with Justin and Marina. But it's hard when there’s family involved. At the request of the Tigers, Cleary agreed not to go public with the announcement until they had sorted out the deal with Maguire, which would free Cleary to link with the Panthers immediately. "The path we headed down is in the best long-term interest of our footy club. I could see Ivan’s hunger and desire to want to coach his son. At that stage I could see cracks surfacing throughout the football organisation. The most exciting thing for me is the harmony in the club. He wasn't enjoying what he was doing to the club. It was clear the negotiations were affecting the normally unflappable coach. Footy is a business, man. "I spoke to him, but I never thought Wayne was going to come here," Marshall said. Part two of the special investigation, which will be published on Monday, will focus on Bennett's departure from Brisbane and the ramifications of the coaching swap between the seven-time premiership-winning mentor and South Sydney's Anthony Seibold. After all, things at Penrith under Griffin weren't as good as their top-four position suggested.

He lined up for the club to speak with Bennett, with Pascoe speaking to the Broncos coach on the phone and later in person in Brisbane. Log In, Not sure? "People take that human and emotional side out of it when you're a fan. We kept saying he was going nowhere even though we knew he was probably going.

Cleary then sent a text message to his players, one that had to be edited and approved by the Tigers, to let them know he was jumping off the bus. That's his life, that's his decision.". "We couldn't tell them Ivan was going unless he was going immediately. Nathan denies he only re-signed because he'd been given assurances his father was going to be coach.

The first is well known.

I'll be forever in debt to him for bringing me back to the club.

"But the back end of the year I have nothing but praise for the way things were. Word spread like wildfire their coach was Penrith bound. I do not feel good about this. Bennett once spoke candidly about his fears for Justin as he and Trish age, and the support networks his son will require. The Tigers, mindful of how they were in a terrible position during the 'big four' negotiations involving Brooks, Aaron Woods, Mitchell Moses and James Tedesco a couple of years ago, were wary about being used. What Gould didn't know was O'Neill and Cleary had already met, hence the directive from certain Panthers directors not to push forward with his plans for the seven-time premiership-winning coach. It became apparent he had what it took to eat away at the club's perceived soft underbelly, and do so with the roster he was given. But perhaps of more comfort to the young halfback was not so much who would be the new coach, but that the old one was no longer there. Despite the plea for more time, the Tigers didn't flinch.

He had the same number on his back as his son, wouldn't you be worried? You have my number and I am always open for a chat if you wish. In the lead-up to Penrith's clash with the Wests Tigers on Friday, NRL.com chief reporter Michael Chammas reveals how Penrith could have signed Wayne Bennett before choosing Ivan Cleary in the first of a two-part investigation into the NRL's unprecedented off-season coaching shake-up. And when he was spotted inside the dressing room before full-time of the club's humiliating 50-18 loss to the Broncos in round 19, they knew he'd given up. It goes back to Cleary being sacked, Pascoe's exit from the club as well as angst from the Wests Tigers over comments from Panthers Group CEO Brian Fletcher when he questioned why Nathan would want to go to a club "that might not be a chance of winning a comp". He didn't want to let his players, or his staff down. He asked the club to allow him the opportunity to consider the option, but he was met with a firm no. "Had we have said Ivan was leaving and then started looking for a new coach, it would have been an absolute disaster for us.". As one Tigers insider put it: "It was like he had taken some illicit drug for the first time and was in zombie land.". Publicly, the Tigers flexed their muscles. The proof will be in the pudding whether it was the right decision to bring Ivan back. "And the boys, we were always tight even when everything was going on, but we were all happy being around each other.

It's got nothing to do with my old man. Cleary has always maintained, publicly and privately, he had not agreed to return to the Panthers – yet the chairman had enough confidence to turn down the services of one W.Bennett. So for Ivan, that's up to him. I didn't care," Robbie Farah said. So the board, having already secured the coach until the end of 2020, asked Pascoe to approach Cleary about the prospect of an extension. In the meantime, Pascoe and Egan booked a flight to Auckland on a secret mission to meet Maguire, who was coaching New Zealand. Since then those thoughts have been reflected in the five-year deal we offered Ivan.". Ivan Cleary and Nathan Cleary at the Wests Tigers v Penrith game in 2018 at Panthers Stadium. Russell [Packer], Benny [Matulino], Josh Reynolds, Moses Mbye … but for me I was just happy to be here.". A couple of months after the Tigers put forward their desire to extend Ivan's tenure, the club moved to proceed with negotiations with his manager. The club, and rightly so given their obligation to protect Maguire as the current coach, will tell you it was always a race between two. You might start to think 'why should I go out and put my body on the line for this bloke if he doesn't want to be here'. The boys had lost that … it's hard to play for a coach when you don't know what their intentions are or whether they are fully committed. What they couldn't understand was the manner in which he was seduced by the temptation. Gould, unbeknown to the club's hierarchy, put his long-standing rivalry with Bennett aside to reach a verbal agreement to turn Penrith into Wayne's World. Onlookers were stunned when an irate Pascoe blew up at Cleary in an expletive-laden outburst that questioned how he could be put in such a position and why he hadn't apologised for it. "I never thought that [Nathan was coming]," Benji Marshall said. It wasn't about an attack on the Tigers. It's generally a way of protecting themselves if things go wrong in the early years. Ivan fronted certain members of the club's board and executive team the day after Griffin's sacking – the same day NRL.com reported Cleary had been offered a long-term deal by the Panthers.

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