Zealand Warriors 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. Coaching career After leaving the Warriors Cleary originally intended to join the Huddersfield Giants in the Super League but instead retired to take up an opportunity to join the Sydney Roosters as the NSWRL Premier League coach. In 2004 he coached the team to the Premiership. New Zealand Warriors Cleary coached New Zealand to the 2011 NRL Grand Final against Manly; they lost 24–10. In the following weeks, Cleary announced he was leaving to join Penrith. Penrith Panthers Early season injuries and some poor form from the Penrith Panthers saw a tough start to Cleary's return to Sydney with Penrith sitting 15th after Round 19 of the 2012 NRL season with a 4–13 record. In 2014, Cleary took Penrith to the preliminary final before losing to Canterbury. He was also named Dally M coach of the year in the same season. He was fired on 19 October 2015 after avoiding the wooden spoon with a final round victory over Newcastle. Wests Tigers He was appointed as the coach of the Wests Tigers on 3 April 2017. In Round 22 of the 2017 NRL Season, Cleary coached the Wests Tigers and coached against his son, Nathan Cleary who was playing for the Penrith Panthers in a losing effort by 28–14. In the 2018 season, Cleary guided Wests to a ninth-placed finish narrowly missing out on a finals spot. On 28 October 2018, the Wests Tigers released Cleary from the final two years of his contract. Cleary also sent a departing text message to the Tigers playing group saying "G'day boys I hope this finds you well and enjoying your time off, I was writing to you in the hope of beating the press.. to let you know that I will no longer be your coach at Wests Tigers. "This is an extremely uncomfortable situation for me as I have genuine fondness for the club, and I have loved coaching you all.. I understand that this situation has caused some pain for people that I care about, along with putting the club in an awkward situation... I do not feel good about this. "I would have preferred to do this in person but time