Ivan Cleary

Ivan Cleary

Personal information
Born	(1971-03-01) 1 March 1971 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height	182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	89 kg (14 st 0 lb)
Position	Fullback, Centre
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1992–93 Manly Warringah 15 8 50 0 132 1994–95 North Sydney 37 15 5 0 70 1996–99 Sydney Roosters 81 29 303 0 722 2000–02 NZ Warriors 53 12 195 1 439 Total 186 64 553 1 1363
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 2006–11 NZ Warriors 137 68 3 66 50 2012–15 Penrith Panthers 112 53 0 59 47 Total 249 121 3 125 49 Representative Years Team Gms W D L W% 2015 PM's XIII 1 1 0 0 100
Source:

Ivan Cleary (born 1 March 1971) is an Australian rugby league football coach and former player. He is a former head coach of the Penrith Panthers and New Zealand Warriors. As a player, Cleary was a goal-kicking fullback who played club football in Australia and New Zealand, setting a new record for most points scored in a season during the 1998 NRL Premiership.

Early life

Cleary grew up in the Sydney Northern Beaches' suburb of Beacon Hill, New South Wales.

Playing career

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

Originally a goal-kicking fullback, Cleary was a Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles junior before moving to play Reserve Grade with the Sea Eagles in 1992 and 1993. He started his first grade career with the Sea Eagles in 1992 playing two games before getting his chance after the team's first choice fullback Matthew Ridge suffered a season-ending injury in mid-1993. Cleary filled the fullback spot and also proved himself an accurate goal-kicker, filling in for Ridge on both counts and helping Many to 4th place and a finals berth where they were bundled out 4-16 by the Brisbane Broncos in the Qualifying Final.

In his 15 first grade games for Manly, Cleary scored 8 tries and kicked 50 goals (from 71 attempts for 70.4%) for a total of 132 points.

North Sydney Bears

With Ridge set to return in 1994 Cleary signed with Manly's local rivals the North Sydney Bears for 1994 and 1995 seasons where he mainly played in the centres due to the emergence of fullback Matt Seers. He also was the team's 2nd choice goal kicker behind Jason Taylor and in 37 games for the Bears he scored 15 tries but kicked only 5 goals (from 6 attempts) for a total of 70 points.

Coaching career

After leaving the Warriors Cleary originally intended to join the Huddersfield Giants in the European Super League but instead retired to take up an opportunity to join the Sydney Roosters as the NSWRL Premier League coach. In 2004 he coached the team to the Premiership.

Penrith Panthers

Early season injuries and some poor form from the Panthers have seen a tough start to Cleary's return to Sydney with Penrith sitting 15th after Round 19 of the 2012 NRL season with a 4-13 record. He was fired on 19 October 2015.

External links

• Profile, yesterdayshero.com.au
• Profile, rugbyleague.co.nz