Veteran NRL head coach Ivan Cleary is navigating two major looming storylines simultaneously: a crunch selection dilemma for his in-form Penrith Panthers side amid a tight minor premiership race, and growing speculation linking him to the vacant Australian Kangaroos head coaching job.
With just two rounds remaining in the 2024 NRL regular season, Penrith finds itself deadlocked with the New Zealand Warriors and Sydney Roosters atop the ladder on 38 competition points. A slightly inferior for-and-against record drops the Panthers to second place, but two wins from their remaining fixtures against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Wests Tigers would lock in a second-place finish, guaranteeing two home finals matches to open the post-season.
This tight ladder position rules out the approach Penrith took in last year’s corresponding round 26 clash with the Bulldogs, when the side rested nearly all of its starting 17. This week, the Panthers will already be without starting five-eighth Jack Cogger, who accepted a three-match suspension for a high tackle against the Melbourne Storm. Cogger opted to accept the ban rather than contest the charge at the NRL judiciary, where a prior earlier-season offence would have pushed the potential suspension to four matches had he lost his appeal. “Three weeks is bad enough, but four’s worse,” Cleary told reporters. “Super disappointed with it, to be honest. But ultimately, we didn’t think we could win.”
Cogger’s suspension has thrown a last-minute curveball into Penrith’s finals preparations. Only a few weeks prior, Cogger had reclaimed the starting five-eighth spot from young talent Blaize Talagi over ongoing defensive concerns, and Talagi has since lined up for the club’s reserve grade side. While Talagi offers significant attacking upside, repeated defensive misreads have put his selection in doubt for Friday’s clash. The current frontrunner to partner Nathan Cleary in the halves is Jack Cole, who already stepped into the starting role when Cogger was unavailable in round 23.
Cleary noted that the squad has already addressed Talagi’s defensive gaps, and that the sudden vacancy is just another routine challenge of a long NRL season. “You’d prefer it if you get a little bit more cohesion there, but all the boys that have played there have sort of played enough. It’s just another challenge that you get throughout the season,” he said. “It’s an important position, a big game with top two spots still up for grabs. The team is the most important thing. Whoever fills the job, we have confidence they’ll do it. Injuries and suspensions have hit every side this year, so you just have to be ready for everything, have different contingencies. It’s not all about one guy who starts, there are plenty of other things that you’ve got to work out as well.”
In additional injury news, starting hooker Mitch Kenny remains sidelined with a serious lower-leg injury and will not return this week, though he is on track to record game minutes in the final round of the regular season.
Off the field, Cleary remained tight-lipped when asked about speculation linking him to the Kangaroos head coaching vacancy, which opened after incumbent coach Kevin Walters announced he would step down following the 2024 World Cup to take over at English Super League side St Helens.
Cleary is currently contracted to Penrith through the end of the 2027 NRL season, and recently stepped down from his role as New South Wales Blues head coach, with the NRL locking in Matt King as his replacement several weeks ago. The four-time premiership-winning coach previously served as an assistant coach for the New Zealand Kiwis at the 2013 World Cup, making him a high-profile candidate for the Kangaroos role, alongside Kangaroos legend Cameron Smith.
“If I’ve been linked to it, I’d be very honoured, but it’s not something I’m thinking about because I don’t know what I’ll be doing,” Cleary said. “I’m still coaching in the NRL, it’s a big enough job, plenty to be worrying about anything else, so that’s what I’m doing. I don’t know why I’m being considered because I don’t know much to it.”