Wests Tigers candidate Ivan Cleary admits he misses NRL coaching

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
Cleary is on Fox Sports 2 ATM
Says he's not even been contacted by the club yet lol

On a side note …I wonder if Megan Barnard can coach ??
I'm sure the boys would play for her lol
 
This is it for me. If we get Cleary like I hope, give him 3 years. He has a good start because over half the team are off contract at end of the year which gives him the chance to pick and choose.

This is the last chance for me. Tigers get your shit together or il find another team.
 
Sign him up, absolutely, but I'd be in no rush to give him the reigns of the side this year. Last thing we need is yet another coach coming in and working with someone else's team. I'd keep Webster there for the year, give the guy a chance to impress and give himself a nice resume for another head coaching role. Cleary isn't going to come in and turn the club around overnight so let him work behind the scenes, sorting out his playing roster, implementing his structures and ideas. Maybe work alongside Webster in an advisory role.
 
@ said:
Why rush? The board should take its time and get it right. It should look beyond anyone not currently a head coach and try to snare a current NRL coach at a club doing well. Like Hasler.

Why rush? To get Cleary before Dragons, Dogs, manly or Newcastle…..to assist in signing players, we have most of our squad off contract....
 
@ said:
Cleary is on Fox Sports 2 ATM
Says he's not even been contacted by the club yet lol

On a side note …I wonder if Megan Barnard can coach ??
I'm sure the boys would play for her lol

Gamesmanship. Of course they'd have contacted him. If he's telling the truth, Pascoe and co should be following Taylor out the door.

Another quote from him when asked about if he'd be interested "I'd certainly listen. There's a lot of upside at that club, I'd look into it."

What are they waiting for?
 
Yep. Like his style. I also like him having a son similar in age to Brooks and Moses making his way in the NRL. Just maybe he might be the person to get them to the place where they need to be.
 
Here is the Nathan Cleary Interview, emphasis on "he hasn't got a call". Definitely has had a call, you can tell that it's being kept quiet atm.

On a side note, how mature is Nathan, love the kid.
 
@ said:
@ said:
Cleary is on Fox Sports 2 ATM
Says he's not even been contacted by the club yet lol

On a side note …I wonder if Megan Barnard can coach ??
I'm sure the boys would play for her lol

Gamesmanship. Of course they'd have contacted him. If he's telling the truth, Pascoe and co should be following Taylor out the door.

Another quote from him when asked about if he'd be interested "I'd certainly listen. There's a lot of upside at that club, I'd look into it."

What are they waiting for?

Why did Cleary feel the need to go on TV ?
Was it a paid gig ?
I'm sure he's been contacted well before Taylors termination .
Is Cleary a Liar ?
 
@ said:
@ said:
Cleary is on Fox Sports 2 ATM
Says he's not even been contacted by the club yet lol

On a side note …I wonder if Megan Barnard can coach ??
I'm sure the boys would play for her lol

Gamesmanship. Of course they'd have contacted him. If he's telling the truth, Pascoe and co should be following Taylor out the door.

Another quote from him when asked about if he'd be interested **_"I'd certainly listen. There's a lot of upside at that club, I'd look into it."_**

What are they waiting for?

I remember reading that Tigers sounded Cleary out previously (when we signed Potter?) and the money that they offered wasnt competitive. I think Ivan statement here translates to "Sure if they bump the $ up".
 
@ said:
@ said:
@ said:
Cleary is on Fox Sports 2 ATM
Says he's not even been contacted by the club yet lol

On a side note …I wonder if Megan Barnard can coach ??
I'm sure the boys would play for her lol

Gamesmanship. Of course they'd have contacted him. If he's telling the truth, Pascoe and co should be following Taylor out the door.

Another quote from him when asked about if he'd be interested **_"I'd certainly listen. There's a lot of upside at that club, I'd look into it."_**

What are they waiting for?

I remember reading that Tigers sounded Cleary out previously (when we signed Potter?) and the money that they offered wasnt competitive. I think Ivan statement here translates to "Sure if they bump the $ up".

He was in his second year at Penrith when we signed Potter..
 
@ said:
@ said:
@ said:
Cleary is on Fox Sports 2 ATM
Says he's not even been contacted by the club yet lol

On a side note …I wonder if Megan Barnard can coach ??
I'm sure the boys would play for her lol

Gamesmanship. Of course they'd have contacted him. If he's telling the truth, Pascoe and co should be following Taylor out the door.

Another quote from him when asked about if he'd be interested **_"I'd certainly listen. There's a lot of upside at that club, I'd look into it."_**

What are they waiting for?

I remember reading that Tigers sounded Cleary out previously (when we signed Potter?) and the money that they offered wasnt competitive. I think Ivan statement here translates to "Sure if they bump the $ up".

I'd say your probably on the money mate …
Unless Cleary is still waiting to see the Gym :laughing:
 
@ said:
@ said:
@ said:
Cleary is on Fox Sports 2 ATM
Says he's not even been contacted by the club yet lol

On a side note …I wonder if Megan Barnard can coach ??
I'm sure the boys would play for her lol

Gamesmanship. Of course they'd have contacted him. If he's telling the truth, Pascoe and co should be following Taylor out the door.

Another quote from him when asked about if he'd be interested "I'd certainly listen. There's a lot of upside at that club, I'd look into it."

What are they waiting for?

Why did Cleary feel the need to go on TV ?
Was it a paid gig ?
I'm sure he's been contacted well before Taylors termination .
Is Cleary a Liar ?

Well he isn't going to come out and say "yeah I'm already signed".
 
@ said:
I'm not nay-saying, I think the guy has talent and a lot going for him, and that game-cred will go a long way compared to the already substantial number of people who disliked JT before he even joined the club.

Can we start a betting pool on the first forummer to call him a nufty or an idiot? I predict it will happen with the team selection after our first loss.

@ said:
Seriously what odds Pascoe didn't already speak to Cleary before Taylor was sacked? They know each other from Penrith and even if they did not you would expect some early diligence?

If they didn't sound him out first, they're stupider than I thought.
 
@ said:
You say you can't see any differences between the 2.

Then you go and list the reasons why some people sided with Potter and not JT. One was dignified and humble. Taylor was a smart arse who took pot shots at previous coaches. You answered my question in some respects.

I guess the difference with Potters heavy losses were they were with a team decimated by injury. Jt teams were at near full strength. Do you remember Potter having to play Corey Patterson on the wing? I can't even remember who was trying to play fullback instead of Teddy?

Sorry I meant the differences in the situations to which they arrived at the club. Obviously in terms of personality they are night and day.
 
Well Taylor was given more power in terms of choosing his own assistants and the "support of the board" who appointed him. Potter worked with assistants given to him.
 
@ said:
@ said:
Honestly I cannot see any difference between the situations of JT and Potter, except JT got 3 more rounds. They both came in with average coaching records, both respected footballers with some evidence of a mind for the game, both picking up the pieces of a previous poor tenure, both dealing with salary cap issues, both got fairly ordinary results all-around.

The main difference I can see is temperament and style - JT rubbed some people the wrong way and it made the results worse, even if they technically were better than Potter. More people liked Potter's approach, even if his results were ordinary.

I mean some people today are saying that Aaron Woods said everything about Taylor in recent media by in fact saying nothing, i.e. that he can't coach and the players don't want him there. Robbie Farah reportedly said Potter could not coach either, that's as close to on-record as I've ever seen about a player saying that, and yet Potter still comes out with a better reputation.

Potter's team finished 2014 with 6 losses from 7, a combined score 235-76, I don't know how anyone can forget this. That's the reason he got the punt, same as why Taylor gets the punt now, a run of such unacceptably heavy losses.

The difference between Potter & Taylor is simple. Improvement. The team was clearly and consistently getting better and you could clearly see where it was going. That last season was destroyed by injuries but for a large chunk of it we were still in contention. Potter was harshly dealt with. There is NO imorovement in any aspect with Taylor. The opposite actually and other than clearing out deadwood and backended deals, do clear direction.

I don't think that argument flies, sorry.

Taylor's team went from 15th to 9th. This is the best Tigers result since 2011 and Tigers had a great side in 2011\. If that's not a clearly superior improvement in the ultimate decider of a team's performance - wins and ladder position, then I'm obviously watching the wrong game.

Did Taylor's team improve this year? Apparently not. But also you can't really make a call on a team's season until it is more than half done, I mean Cowboys started 2015 with 3 losses, include a heavy one to Brisbane, then went on to win the comp.

I liked Potter, I thought he had potential. But his teams came 15th and 13th. I don't care that he had a horror injury toll, part of the coaches job is to improve the strength, conditioning and rehab approaches. Tim Sheens' teams had injuries too but he copped the same criticism about lack of results, favouritism in selection etc. Old "Teflon" Tim.

I'm all for doing comparisons on areas of improvement between different sites, be it attack, defence discipline etc. But ultimately it comes down to winning. And I've been in discussions before where forummers howled at me "it's winning that counts, forget the rest of the stats".

Taylor's team won a lot more last year than normal. That is pretty clearly an improvement and if you don't think so, you will be impossible to please.
 
@ said:
OK so if it is Cleary, and a lot of people think he can indeed coach, I mean he comes to the club with a fair amount of respect and credibility despite having been sacked from his last role… how many poor results would it take for people to turn on him?

Does he get 2 seasons? 2 seasons and 3 rounds?

I'm not nay-saying, I think the guy has talent and a lot going for him, and that game-cred will go a long way compared to the already substantial number of people who disliked JT before he even joined the club.

I'm just saying out loud that I know our club and supporters, we have a poor history and a significant number of supporters turn on the coach fairly quickly, even inside the first year, if the results don't come.

If Cleary does indeed take over and we make the 8 this season, you can expect him to be allowed to stay on for some time I would think.

It's a very good question. In a vacuum I would say at least two years. Possibly three.
Sadly things are never judged in a vacuum.
JT came in with a young, inexperienced squad with salary cap issues, so we all knew any improvement had to come from within. For whatever reason, that wasn't really happening on any great scale, despite an improved ladder position this year. Obviously the situation was also heavily impacted by the 2018 situation, which probably made the club panic a little more than they would have otherwise.
I do sympathise with him a bit, as there were some outside factors at play, but then again that's kinda part of the job, and I wasn't seeing enough on the field to make me believe that this squad was going places.
I agree with the decision to move JT on, but the timing is ludicrous and suggests all sorts of incompetence further up the line.

I am not a huge Cleary fan, but I do respect what he's done at both NZW and Penrith - develop a squad from the ground up. I know th Penrith situation was due to a cap rebuild (similar to ours) - don't remember what happened at the start of his nz reign.
I think he'll have a bit of pull in the market, and may net us some decent players for next year, as we currently have about four. A lot of questions though.

As for Potter - I felt he was harshly done by as he seemed to be coaching with one hand behind his back. He didn't choose his own staff, had Mayer and the board signing players without his approval and literally against his wishes and suffered a ridiculous injury run. That first half of 2014 was the best we've played in years.
Then again, it seemed the players may not have really respected him, and the injury run may have been his own doing to an extent.
 
@ said:
@ said:
@ said:
@ said:
OK so if it is Cleary, and a lot of people think he can indeed coach, I mean he comes to the club with a fair amount of respect and credibility despite having been sacked from his last role… how many poor results would it take for people to turn on him?

Does he get 2 seasons? 2 seasons and 3 rounds?

I'm not nay-saying, I think the guy has talent and a lot going for him, and that game-cred will go a long way compared to the already substantial number of people who disliked JT before he even joined the club.

I'm just saying out loud that I know our club and supporters, we have a poor history and a significant number of supporters turn on the coach fairly quickly, even inside the first year, if the results don't come.

If Cleary does indeed take over and we make the 8 this season, you can expect him to be allowed to stay on for some time I would think.

I think most people WT fans were angry when Potter was not renewed and run of town.

The Same can't be said for JT - for a number of reasons.

People might have pre conceived ideas of a coach before they come in - However in the end the results give them some vindication.

Conceding 100 points in the first 3 games was a record for a number of years of any time.

I think if Cleary 3 years is a fair contract for any coach to prove their wears.. The problem for Taylor was his 3rd season starts awful and he had a really unique situation with our playing contracts.

Honestly I cannot see any difference between the situations of JT and Potter, except JT got 3 more rounds. They both came in with average coaching records, both respected footballers with some evidence of a mind for the game, both picking up the pieces of a previous poor tenure, both dealing with salary cap issues, both got fairly ordinary results all-around.

The main difference I can see is temperament and style - JT rubbed some people the wrong way and it made the results worse, even if they technically were better than Potter. More people liked Potter's approach, even if his results were ordinary.

I mean some people today are saying that Aaron Woods said everything about Taylor in recent media by in fact saying nothing, i.e. that he can't coach and the players don't want him there. Robbie Farah reportedly said Potter could not coach either, that's as close to on-record as I've ever seen about a player saying that, and yet Potter still comes out with a better reputation.

Potter's team finished 2014 with 6 losses from 7, a combined score 235-76, I don't know how anyone can forget this. That's the reason he got the punt, same as why Taylor gets the punt now, a run of such unacceptably heavy losses.

Potter experienced the worst run of injuries in the clubs history. Prior to that run we were doing well. Brooks played his best football under Potter, the magic he and Tedesco used to produce was breathtaking.

Unfortunately, there is not much you can do though when your whole side is injured.

Thing is milkster, that can easily be construed as an excuse. It's part of the coaches remit to improve strength and conditioning, rehab etc. Don't you remember all the talk in years gone by, previous coaches, about the soft tissue v bone injuries? Medical experts on the forum, that bone injuries were freak ones but repeated soft tissue injuries possibly pointed to bad preparation or training etc.

I know you were a much younger lad back then, but Sheens and Potter were always criticised on here for the terrible injury tolls they incurred every year, how they crippled our finals runs etc.

Or to put it another way, consider the irony that Taylor really did appear to curtail our injury issues, we've been doing quite well in the past two years, and it has become another way to criticise him because we haven't performed sufficiently despite the consistent team roster. It was not an excuse available to JT the same as it was available to Potter or Sheens.
 
As for improvement under JT - I was very excited by what I saw for the first period in 2015\. Defence was noticeably better, the team played with a toughness a la early 2014 and we just looked like a promising bunch of kids a year or two off hitting the big time. For whatever reason, after that first bye - we lost it. Got smashed by the Roosters, and JT seemed to panic and overcompensate, leading to that silly 0-8 game against the Cowboys, which just exacerbated things. The defence went backwards and never returned. We'd turn up and play tough every now and then, but it was mostly just flighty Tigers football circa 2007 all over again for the most part.
The team didn't really have an identity, the players mostly looked low on confidence and the results didn't come.
He talked a good game when he arrived, but we never really saw that on the field, and that is a shame.
 
@ said:
As for improvement under JT - I was very excited by what I saw for the first period in 2015\. Defence was noticeably better, the team played with a toughness a la early 2014 and we just looked like a promising bunch of kids a year or two off hitting the big time. For whatever reason, after that first bye - we lost it. Got smashed by the Roosters, and JT seemed to panic and overcompensate, **leading to that silly 0-8 game against the Cowboys**, which just exacerbated things. The defence went backwards and never returned. We'd turn up and play tough every now and then, but it was mostly just flighty Tigers football circa 2007 all over again for the most part.
The team didn't really have an identity, the players mostly looked low on confidence and the results didn't come.
He talked a good game when he arrived, but we never really saw that on the field, and that is a shame.

:roll
It's a sad fact I will never forget that game!

As for the coach I really hope it is Cleary; him being the coach just makes me feel optimistic.
I think he is a good coach who was let go by the panthers with the weakest excuse ever from Gould - "he looks stressed" to paraphrase - and (in a nice touch of irony!) seems to have the temperament the club needs.

Not saying Taylor didn't, but I can imagine him being a bit "David miscavige" away from the cameras.
(He's the head of Scientology. No offence meant to any scientologists here but…psycho!!).
 
Back
Top