KEY POINTS:
As he stood casually chatting last week about the Dally M Awards, Ivan Cleary remarked that the right person won the gong for coach of the year.
It was hard to argue that Melbourne's Craig Bellamy deserved the accolade for the second straight season but what Cleary has done at the Warriors has been almost as significant.
In the two years since taking over from Tony Kemp, Cleary has taken the Warriors from the comparative rabble of 2004-05 and turned them into one of the NRL's most consistent and exciting sides. He was rewarded with a nomination for Dally M Coach of the Year but, much like his side, he doesn't feel he's achieved anything yet.
Although the 12-10 loss to Parramatta on Friday night was a blow, it shouldn't detract from Cleary's deeds.
There had always been a master plan. Year one (2006) was all about redevelopment and getting the club back on track. Year two was about making an impact and playing finals football for the first time in four years and year three was about winning the premiership. The way things are going, it's not totally inconceivable it might happen in the next few weeks.
Cleary is an interesting, sometimes intense character. He's not a jump-up-and-down-cuss-and-gesticulate type of coach in the mould of Ricky Stuart or Bellamy. Instead, he's a replica of the way he played the game - cool, calm and calculating.
In fact, when he wanders into a post-match press conference, anyone who missed the game would struggle to deduce whether his side had won or lost, such is his demeanour. He has the makings of a great poker player.
"I rate him very, very highly and have done since meeting him [in 2005]," says Warriors director of football John Hart.
"Two of his great traits are his consistency and maturity. He's grown immeasurably as a coach in a short space of time. He's a very well prepared coach and he's got the right values to do well."
Hart acts as something of a mentor to Cleary and is often used as a sounding board. He also sits in on selection meetings with Cleary and assistant John Ackland, frequently assuming the role of devil's advocate, and headed up the review after the 2005 season when he recommended Cleary replace Kemp as coach.
"He never talks about feeling the pressure but clearly there have been times when he's rung me to chew the fat because he's got an issue or a concern," Hart says.
"That's part of my role, to be there to support him. It might be preparation or selection issues or it might be how to handle a problem over a situation with a player. What I like about him is that he will go away and think about what we have talked about and then put it in place as he sees it."
In his two years as head coach, Cleary can remember one rant at his players. It was at halftime in the 40-20 loss to the Bulldogs, when his side had taken the lead despite having Michael Crockett sent off in the opening minutes, only to concede on the stroke of halftime. It was also the fifth of what turned out to be six straight defeats.
"I don't know [if it shocked the players]," Cleary says. "It shocked me. I don't do it a lot. I try to be natural. If I feel like blowing up, I will ... but I don't know if it helps much. I just try to do things how I feel, that's the most important thing."
Soon after playing his last game for the Warriors, the 2002 grand final defeat to the Roosters, Cleary was snapped up to join the Sydney club as coach of their reserve grade side.
He had been expected to join Huddersfield as a player but the Roosters job was exactly the kind of opportunity for which he was looking.
Current Roosters chief executive Brian Canavan was football manager at the time (he was also assistant coach when Cleary arrived at the club as a player in 1996) and was instrumental in getting Cleary on board.
"As a player, he was the ultimate professional and a very deep thinker about the game," Canavan remembers. "You didn't really need to coach him. He was self-coached. We basically just told him, 'the game's at 3 o'clock, see you there'.
"We weren't quite sure if he was going to go down the coaching track. Some players need the feedback that they can coach but not Ivan because he was such a great self-appraiser. When the job came up, I promoted his name very strongly ... and he didn't think about it too long."
Cleary had a difficult start to his coaching career but delivered a reserve grade premiership in his second season.
Soon after, he was on his way to join Kevin Campion as Kemp's assistant and the following year was handed the top job.
Cleary's contract with the Warriors expires at the end of 2008 and the club has an option for 2009. Hart, though, is hopeful Cleary will be around a little longer than that.
"I think he's a wonderful coach and I make no secret of the fact that I would like to see him become the Wayne Bennett of the Warriors because he's the sort of person who could stay at the place a long time and add value because he's continues to learn and wants to learn."
If he can be half as successful as six-time premiership-winning coach Bennett, the Warriors are in for an enjoyable ride. Cleary might even win a Dally M award, too.
