Ivan Cleary will leave the Penrith Panthers at the end of the 2027 season.
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The champion coach fronted a press conference at 2pm on Wednesday where he confirmed the bombshell decision.
The club announced assistant coach Peter Wallace will take over from Cleary as part of a coaching succession plan.
“I would have prefered not to have a press conference but I understand this type of a decision in my position has an effect on a lot of people – players, staff, our corporate partners, members fans and anyone else who care,” Cleary told reporters.
“This is not a time for thank yous or reflections – we’ve still got 18 months in the saddle so to speak and I woke up this morning thinking about the Dragons and how we’re going to beat them this week.”
For Cleary, his proudest accomplishment was creating the winning culture that saw the Panthers claim four premierships in a row.
“That’s certainly not me that’s everyone involved. That’s a lot of people, players and staff who have left as well and moved on. We’ve all been involved in building a culture I can now safely say is a winning one,” he said.
“Once you have that, pieces can move in and out, and whilst im not going to downplay the role of a head coach, I’m just another one of the pieces.
“That’s what I’d say to fans – I’m super confident in Wal and the club and the direction moving forward.”
Cleary revealed he first started thinking about the prospect of stepping down when he was offered an extension two years ago only for the club’s struggles last season to delay the decision.
He said he would not entertain the idea of coaching a rival NRL club but would consider a representative role if one arose.
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Cleary was then asked about the future of his son Nathan with the superstar halfback one of a host of Panthers players off contract at the end of 2027.
“He’s been pretty clear about where he stands on his future right now which I think is pretty uncertain,” he said.
“He’s just focussed on playing. I don’t think this has made any difference.”
The 55-year-old said he felt it was important to clarify his future with the likes of Nathan as well as Isaah Yeo, Brian To’o, Liam Martin, Moses Leota, Isaiah Papali’i, Mitch Kenny and Blaize Talagi all considering whether to re-sign or head to the open market.
“I have heard lots of things about it’s hard to make a call unless you know what the coach is doing so I thought it was important to clear that up,” he said.
“I feel really confident we have the right guy in Wal to take us forward.
“I think it will give the players a lot of confidence in the club in what’s ahead.”
Wallace, a Panthers Life Member and former club captain, played 240 NRL games across his career, including 101 matches for Penrith across two stints. He also played 139 games for the Brisbane Broncos.
After retiring in 2018 he moved into coaching, taking over the Panthers reserve grade side from 2020 to 2022, leading the team to the NSW Cup premiership before going on to claim State Championship honours.
Wallace then joined Cleary’s NRL coaching staff as an assistant coach in 2023.
He was asked at Wednesday’s press conference if replacing shoes would be like “batting after Bradman”.
“I don’t know how to answer that,” he replied.
“No, there’s no better person to take over from. The amount I’ve learned from Ivan over the years both as a player and as a coach – and I’ve still got 18 months with him – in terms of transition, I don’t think there’s a better club to do it at and a better coach to do it under.”
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