By STUART McLENNAN
AS IVAN Cleary sat at the press conference flanked by Wests Tigers chair Marina Go and CEO Justin Pascoe accompanied by a media release stating how impressed the board were with Ivan’s vision for the club there was a sense of deja vu.
As they say in the classics: deja vu all over again.
This is a club that has been torn apart by factional fighting, financial difficulties, player vs coach feuds and general disharmony. These issues only skim the surface in the well documented slide the Wests Tigers have suffered since winning the premiership in 2005.
So what hope can we take out of yesterday’s announcement? Commentators and Ivan will tell you he has been here before with Penrith and the Warriors. He has become the man you call when your team has hit rock bottom.
At the Panthers, Cleary along with Gus Gould made significant changes to both players and culture including removing the captaincy from Luke Lewis that led to him leaving for the Sharks. Origin centre Michael Jennings was also released from his contract.
It is widely thought that he laid the foundation for the success that Anthony Griffin is enjoying at the club. The Tigers playing group appear at best disheartened with the uncertainty in both coaching staff and playing contracts. There were a number of comments from fans on the weekend that the immensely talented James Tedesco looked uninterested and was not his usual self against the Dragons. Does anyone know what has happened to his passing game?
There were two comments from Cleary in the press conference that gave room for hope. He talked about only signing players who wanted to be at the club. A firm response to the potentially big four who have been quoted in the media as preferring to play at a club that will be in the finals. The other quote I think we can take heart from is “sometimes you have to go backwards before you go forwards.” It appears he is prepared to make the hard decisions in the short term to achieve long term success.
Cleary is a good communicator, comfortable under the bright lights and appears to have good relationships with players, officials and the media. A refreshing change from the last person in the position who was abrasive at best. The club’s social media manager tweeted one word after the presser, “impressive” in anticipation of improved ‘sound bytes’ from the new head coach.
The biggest mountain to climb for Cleary is the club itself. This is an organisation that has been around for 17 years but still suffers from merged entity factional fighting.
This is a club that places to much value on the loyalty of players and where the club feels pressure to retain juniors at prices well beyond their worth.(continued below)
The salary cap issues that have burdened the team are largely due to administrators appeasing fans by handing local juniors long and generous contracts, well beyond their real value as players.
What other club would have let the Robbie Farah saga play out the way it did with many fans walking away while the Tigers still pay the majority of his South Sydney salary?
Ivan has to make a stand in the next month and sort out where the makeup of his squad is heading even if he appears to be ‘Ivan the Terrible’ to some fans.
It will mean cutting the high profile off contract players loose if they are demanding more than they are worth or are half hearted about being part of the club.
The opportunity is now for a true rebuild. The club has hit rock bottom on the field and Cleary has the opportunity to assess who he currently has on the roster and who is available externally for 2018 and put a squad together almost from scratch.
Both the lower grades are struggling so the coach will be looking outside to boost the quality of the squad. I pray that future contracts are based on ability and that the club doesn’t let emotion get in the way of good judgement when making the hard decisions.
If Ivan Cleary is given the power and freedom to coach the squad of his choice without interference then maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel and the rain will clear.
