Wests Tigers to meet Ivan Cleary this week as round six start date looms
Michael Chammas
Published: March 27, 2017 - 6:59PM
The Wests Tigers will meet with Ivan Cleary this week to sort out a deal that could parachute the coach in to rescue their season as early as round six against the Cowboys.
Fairfax Media understands the Wests Tigers board has given the green light for the club to head hunt Cleary and will open negotiations with the former Panthers and Warriors coach this week.
Speculation has been rife surrounding Cleary and a potential move to Belmore to replace Des Hasler as Canterbury coach, however it appears almost certain he will end up at the Tigers as early as after this Sunday's game against the Dragons.
The Tigers are conscious of the fact they don't want this season to spiral out of control and are holding on to hope of playing finals football for the first time since 2011.
The club is also mindful of the fact there may be other NRL jobs available to Cleary if they delay negotiations and are keen to put pen to paper.
The club hierarchy were quick to point out a noted "improvement in effort" from the Tigers against Melbourne on Sunday, however they were unable to put in a complete performance against an out of sorts Storm line-up.
But their skipper Aaron Woods insists it's too early to put a line through their 2017 campaign despite winning just one of their first four games.
"This season is not a write off," Woods said.
"As we saw yesterday, we should have beaten Melbourne. A couple of things didn't go our way. We played a good 50 or 60 minutes, but that's not enough to compete with NRL standards.
"We're still a massive chance and I believe in the boys we have. There's no bloke not trying. Sunday was just one step in the right direction. We have a lot more steps we need to take but we know we have to work hard and get ourselves out of it."
Cleary is the master of the rebuild, taking the Warriors to the grand final and also overhauling the Panthers into the premiership force they've now become.
The pending appointment of Cleary will mark the beginning of a significant period for the Tigers, who remain hopeful of retaining the "big four" of Woods, James Tedesco, Mitchell Moses and Luke Brooks.
Brooks will miss this Sunday's clash with the high-flying St George Illawarra, however Mitchell Moses is expected to recover from a sternum knock to take his place in the side.
If negotiations progress as quickly as hoped, it will be quite a baptism of fire for Cleary taking his new side to Townsville on the competition's hardest road trip for a clash against the Cowboys.
If there is a delay in the club's dealings with Cleary, the Tigers' following game is against the Eels on Easter Monday.
Cleary has a monumental task ahead of him. While off the field the club is enjoying the largest growth in membership of any team in the NRL, on the field their best players are frustrated by the lack of success.
"I've played just two semi-final matches," Woods said.
"That's frustrating. I've played more Origins and games for Australia than finals. Lucky I have got to play in big games because of them. It's something I want to turn around. I want to play in big games for this club. It's not ideal the situation we're in at the moment."
While the off-contract players want to know who will be coaching the Tigers before committing to the club, they insist they aren't part of the plans to recruit the coach.
"I don't want to know because I keep getting dragged through everything," Woods said.
"No one believes what I say. It is what it is."
This story was found at: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...und-six-start-date-looms-20170327-gv7iji.html
