Ivan Cleary (born 1 March 1971) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Penrith Panthers in the NRL and a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the 1990s and 2000s. He is a former head coach of the Wests Tigers and New Zealand Warriors, as well as the two time NRL Premiership winning head coach of the Penrith Panthers, who led the Panthers to the 2021 premiership in the National Rugby League. As a player, Cleary was a goal-kicking 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. Early life 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. He is of Croatian Heritage. Playing career Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 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. North Sydney Bears 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. Sydney Roosters 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. New