We could've had Wayne Bennett as coach, we opted for Ivan Cleary

[mxlegend99]

Reckon we dodged a bullet in Brennan ftr. Titans look like they've never met each other.

This was the first game their halves have played together. So they essentially haven't met.

But they do look horrible. So do we though.

 

[BxTom]

Reckon we dodged a bullet in Brennan ftr. Titans look like they've never met each other.

Still thinks he is coaching u19's where defence doesn't matter.

 

[Fangs]

Time for our daily dose of humility on this forum.

Who would have thought in 2019 this club would play 4 straight grand finals under Ivan? Unbelievable.

 

[Munky]

The 2015 juniors turned out to be the NRL equivalent of the class of '92.

Given how our hyped juniors had been busts since 2004 it's a minor miracle a whole team of them became first grade superstars.

 

[Abacus]

Quality bump.

Fwiw, I bought a property up Port Stephens way a couple of years ago - Brennan was the real estate agent.

 

[Chins get the wins]

Ivan's whole career was saved by his son being a good player.........all's well that ends well I guess

 

[Munky]

Ivan's whole career was saved by his son being a good player.........all's well that ends well I guess

My totally unfounded theory since 2019 is that Penrith executives realised that having the twenty year old first choice NSW halfback meant ten to fifteen years of premiership window.

His dad coaching elsewhere in the league was an existential threat to being a relevant team and pulled the trigger on the only real option.

Generational halfbacks are rarer than good coaches so they did what had to be done to keep him in Panther colours.

 

[chrisD]

2010 the last time Wayne won. Squandered multiple premiership calibre rosters and left teams worse than when he joined them. He's completely clueless as to how to defend in the modern game, as demonstrated by Ivan shoving 50 up him in the regular season forcing him to change his whole defensive set up, only for Ivan to end him in the final.

 

[soc123_au]

Ivan's whole career was saved by his son being a good player.........all's well that ends well I guess

Thats a bit unfair on Ivan I reckon. He isn't perfect, but he has a pretty good idea on what he is doing. Plenty of players have improved under him. And he bought Issah Yeo into grade, then took him to god tier on his 2nd crack.

 

[Sime_11]

he had that Tigers team competitive in the last 10 years - that has to count for something - and im sure thats when Teddy, Moses and Woods already jumped ship

 

[Chins get the wins]

Thats a bit unfair on Ivan I reckon. He isn't perfect, but he has a pretty good idea on what he is doing. Plenty of players have improved under him. And he bought Issah Yeo into grade, then took him to god tier on his 2nd crack.

The club panicked and got Ivan back to stop Nathan leaving. That's just fact

 

[Munky]

I think the Tigers experience taught Ivan that plodders can't make up the bulk of a team and you need some star power.

His loyalty to plod isn't what it once was and is willing to move under performing players from the seventeen.

In his first stint he'd only bring players in when it was injury enforced.

Last year he experimented with squad composition throughout the season which was a new development.

 

[TheEroticGamer]

Ivan’s always been an elite coach. There was more to him coming back than just Nathan.

 

[Fangs]

Dave O'Neil has always been a great judge of elite coaching talent. Bring him back I say.

 

[soc123_au]

The club panicked and got Ivan back to stop Nathan leaving. That's just fact

I don't disagree with that statement, but he was still a good candidate on his own merits.

 

[ColdWetPanther]

Ivan's whole career was saved by his son being a good player.........all's well that ends well I guess

Terrible take. Good teams win one Premiership, great teams maybe two. Making 4 GFs in a row is all about creating a culture of excellence and constantly striving to improve.

People who talk about bench composition in April miss the point; you can lose a comp before the end of Origin but you win it in September/October.

 

[murraymob]

What ever way you look at it we where in 4 grand final 3 winning would bennet have got that who knows who cares because Cleary did give us that

 

[Chins get the wins]

Terrible take. Good teams win one Premiership, great teams maybe two. Making 4 GFs in a row is all about creating a culture of excellence and constantly striving to improve.

People who talk about bench composition in April miss the point; you can lose a comp before the end of Origin but you win it in September/October.

I'm not saying he can't coach but he never gets asked back here without Nathan. It's simple stuff