Ivan Cleary 2000 crop.png

Player Ivan Cleary

Date of Birth
Mar 1, 1971
Birth Location
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality
  1. 🇦🇺 Australia
Height (cm)
182 cm
Weight (kg)
89 kg
Position/s
  1. Fullback
  2. Centre
Warrior #
73
Warriors Debut Date
Feb 6, 2000
Warriors Debut Details
February 6 2000, Round 1 vs Melbourne Storm at Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand
Warriors Years Active
  1. 2000
  2. 2001
  3. 2002
Signed From
Sydney City Roosters
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivan_Cleary
Rugby League Project
https://www.rugbyleagueproject.org/players/ivan-cleary/summary.html

mt.wellington

Contributor
Ivan Cleary (PLAYER)

Ivan Cleary 2000 1.PNG

Ivan Cleary (born 1 March 1971) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League (NRL) and a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a fullback and centre in the 1990s and 2000s.

Cleary was a goal-kicking fullback who played club football in Australia and New Zealand, setting a new record for most points scored in a season during the 1998 NRL Premiership. He is the father of Panthers' co-captain Nathan Cleary.

Cleary was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He grew up in the Sydney Northern Beaches' suburb of Beacon Hill and attended Beacon Hill High School.

Originally a goal-kicking fullback, Cleary was a Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles junior before moving to play Reserve Grade with the Sea Eagles in 1992 and 1993. He started his first grade career with the Manly-Warringah club in 1992 playing two games before getting his chance after the team's first choice fullback Matthew Ridge suffered a season-ending injury in mid-1993. Cleary filled the fullback spot and also proved himself an accurate goal-kicker, filling in for Ridge on both counts and helping Manly to 4th place and a finals berth where they were bundled out 4-16 by the Brisbane Broncos in the Qualifying Final.

In his 15 first grade games for Manly, Cleary scored eight tries and kicked 50 goals (from 71 attempts for 70.4%) for a total of 132 points.

With Ridge set to return in 1994 Cleary signed with Manly's local rivals the North Sydney Bears for 1994 and 1995 seasons where he mainly played in the centres due to the emergence of fullback Matt Seers. He also was the team's second choice goal kicker behind Jason Taylor and in 37 games for the Bears he scored 15 tries but kicked only 5 goals (from 6 attempts) for a total of 70 points.

Cleary began playing for the Sydney City Roosters from the 1996 ARL season through to the 1999 NRL season making 81 appearances for the tri-colours. In 1998, Cleary was the NRL's top point scorer with 284 points.

Cleary signed with the New Zealand Warriors for the 2000 NRL season before the fullback retired at the end of the 2002 NRL season following the club's 2002 NRL Grand Final loss against the Sydney Roosters.


Manly junior had a great season at fullback while deputising for the injured Matthew Ridge in 1993. Cleary's standout performances earned him a contract with Norths but after being injured in the early part of the season, he made his comeback in the centres because of the good form of rookie Matt Seers. Cleary showed both his class and adaptability during the Bears' charge to the preliminary final in 1994 but coveted a full-back/goal-kicker’s role and announced his intention to play for Easts after the 1995 season. In 1998 he surpassed Mick Cronin’s long-standing premiership record when he scored 284pts for the season (since surpassed by the Bulldogs’ Hazem El Masri. In 1999, he suffered a dislocated hip in a pre-season trial against Norths but left the Roosters at the end of the year to link with the Warriors. Cleary retired at the end of 2002 following the Warriors’ grand final loss (a season in which Cleary scored a club record 242pts) to take on an assistant coach’s role with Roosters.
- ALAN WHITICKER
 
Last edited:
PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE A SEARATE THREAD FOR IVAN CLEARY COACHING CAREER.

I'll post a link soon for the coaching thread. Do try to keep this on topic and only discuss Cleary the player. Cheers...
 
Ivan Cleary COACH thread link below...

 

Similar threads

Back
Top