Steve Deane: Dead man walking should be sent on his way

Ivan Cleary. Photo / Greg Bowker

Ivan Cleary should be handed his box of chocolates, cheap bottle of plonk and oversized farewell card today.

After 10 years of service as a coach and player, Cleary is a dead man walking.

The unflappable Australian has been a fine coach. He came in with the club at one of its many seriously low ebbs and turned things around.

He hasn't delivered a championship but, hey, he's hardly alone on that score. There's only one champion each year, and it has never been the Warriors under any coach.

The argument in favour of Cleary seeing out the season is emotional - that after a decade of stellar service he deserves to go out on his own terms, deserves one last shot at that elusive title. As chief executive Wayne Scurrah put it, Cleary deserves to be "farewelled the right way".

He does, but the right way is a spell of gardening leave while the club gives its new coach a half-season head start.

By not tendering him an offer to match Penrith's three-year deal, the Warriors effectively made their decision on Cleary.

"When someone else is trying to take one of your staff members, is that necessarily the best time to react?" Scurrah asked at yesterday's announcement.

Well, yes. If you want to keep them, that is. Not reacting is a dead-set certain way to lose someone.

There was an element of hollowness in Scurrah's suggestion that he had told Phil Gould he was "pissed" about having his coach stolen.

It's hardly a burglary if you leave your front door unlocked with a big sign on the lawn saying "take whatever you want".

No, the Warriors made their call on Cleary and that's fine. The problem is they haven't fully backed it. Allowing Cleary to stay is the Bob Cunis route - neither one thing nor the other.

Cleary's desire to stay is understandable. He genuinely believes he can coach the Warriors while also putting things in place for his arrival at Penrith next season.

"I understand the implications of coaching in limbo, not just for myself but the club," he said.

"In any part of life you have got balls in the air. That is just part of life. That doesn't concern me at all. I know which ball I am focusing on."

Scurrah points to the fact Wayne Bennett is pulling off the two hats routine at St George without any apparent dramas. True, but comparisons between Cleary and Bennett are perhaps a bit premature.

The fact is Cleary has his work cut out at Penrith.

Among numerous other tasks, he needs to choose his staff and make decisions on player recruitment. Time and energy spent doing that is time and energy not spent on the Warriors.

The question the club needs to ask itself is what would be more beneficial: a) bringing in Bluey McClennan now and hoping the bounce a new coach often provides might propel the club deep into the finals; b) giving Tony Iro a half-season trial to see if he is up to the job; or c) letting Cleary see out the season in the hope he can deliver a title as a parting gift?

Given that 'c' panning out raises the obvious question of why the hell you let the bloke go in the first place, it's hard to see much logic in it.

Parting gifts should be handed out all right. Today.