Cleary’s Dally M drought ‘baffling’ to Panthers star
Jasper Bruce |
Luke Garner says it is “baffling” Ivan Cleary was not named the Dally M Coach of the Year in any of Penrith’s four consecutive premiership-winning seasons.
Cleary won the prize during the Panthers’ surge to heavyweight status and the grand final in 2020, but has since been overlooked at the NRL’s annual awards night.
Coach of the Year went to North Queensland’s Todd Payten and Andrew Webster of the Warriors for their respective clubs’ resurgent 2022 and 2023 seasons.
Melbourne’s Craig Bellamy won it for the Storm’s 2021 and 2024 campaigns, both of which ended in finals losses at the hands of Cleary and the Panthers.
Panthers second-rower Garner says “it doesn’t make sense” the man behind a historic four straight premiership seasons was not deemed the league’s best coach in any of them.
“It’s baffling. I don’t quite understand it,” he told AAP ahead of Sunday’s preliminary final against Brisbane.
“I don’t know who votes and what it’s based on.
“I don’t know how he has not won it the past four years in a row. Whenever you win the grand final and the coach doesn’t win it, it doesn’t make sense to me.”
The coach of the year is selected by the same panel that votes on the Dally M Medal for the league’s best-and-fairest player.
But while that prize is determined by collating 3-2-1 MVP votes for each game in the regular season, the coach of the year is decided by a single 3-2-1 vote from each panellist.
That process takes place at the end of the regular season – finals matches have never been included in voting.
“I know (Cleary) hasn’t got that reward, but we’d be lost without him. He means the world to us,” said Panthers prop Liam Henry.
Barely a week goes by when master mentor Cleary doesn’t offer the peppy Henry some words of wisdom or encouragement.
“It kind of happens most weeks, to be honest,” Henry said.
“I can probably be a little bit too frantic at times, and just to have someone like that, like ‘Ive’, it’s just calming. It just gives you confidence when you’re going out there.”
Lifting the Panthers from the bottom of the ladder in round 12 and to a fifth consecutive title would surely rank as Cleary’s finest achievement in 19 seasons as an NRL head coach.
Garner said he may not even be playing in the NRL, let alone targeting a third premiership ring, if not for Cleary, who handed him his debut at Wests Tigers in 2018.
“Another coach might not have given (a debut) to me,” he said.
“Then coming here, the way he treated me when I first got here … he was sort of patient with me throughout the year.
“It’s safe to say I probably wouldn’t be the player I am without him.”
AAP
