Ivan Cleary Wows Bede Polding Community
Four-time NRL Premiership winning coach Ivan Cleary shared some of his coaching and motivational tips of his amazing journey with the Bede Polding College community recently.
Cleary and his remarkable Penrith Panthers – superbly led by his son Nathan – have been the benchmark for greatness for the past four rugby league seasons and his appearance was eagerly awaited.
Ivan Cleary, a highly-regarded motivational speaker, received a warm welcome from the college community at his Achieving Excellence presentation, and also took questions from the enthusiastic audience.
Cleary, 53, is regarded among the most successful rugby league coaches in the modern era, taking the Penrith Panthers to new heights, never achieved before in their history.
Having seen the worst – the second season he coached the Panthers in 2015, they barely escaped the wooden spoon – and the best, Cleary certainly has plenty of experience in his bag to inspire students and budding sports stars. He returned to the Panthers in 2019 in a bid to resurrect the glory of the 2003 Premiers, and the rest is history.
Before his coaching career took off at the West Tigers and the New Zealand Warriors, Clearly shone as a centre and full back, playing 186 NRL games for four clubs – Manly Sea Eagles, North Sydney Bears, Sydney Roosters and New Zealand Warriors, scoring more than 1000 career points.
According to the Windsor-based school’s social media post, Cleary gave them, “an incredible insight into how we can all perform in life, with a message of ‘How you train is how you perform’. We are so grateful to Ivan for sharing his time and expertise with us.”
For Year 12 student Nate Gubler, it was an extra special evening because he presented Cleary his beautiful painting of the NRL Premiership Trophy, with details of the four successive titles. This is certainly something the highly-regarded Panthers coach will cherish for years to come.
The ticketed event attracted an audience of more than 250, who were also able to have their photographs taken with the coaching maestro during a busy ‘meet and greet’ session after his well-received presentation.
