NRL grand final 2024: Ivan Cleary set to become greatest NRL coach with win over Storm coach Craig Bellamy

The last time Melbourne won a grand final was against Penrith.

The last time Penrith lost a grand final it was against Melbourne.

On Sunday night the Storm can cement themselves as the most dominant NRL team of the last generation, while if the Panthers win their fourth title in a row they will become immortals.

Melbourne finished two wins clear of Penrith to claim the minor premiership and got the best of the Panthers twice this year in round one (8-0) and round 24 (24-22).

The Storm are favourites going into the decider by the narrowest of margins, but all bets will be off once the whistle blows with both teams stacked with talent and match-winning playmakers.

All NRL teams have star players, some more than others, but what turns a team from good to great is their coach and the two best coaches, arguably of the modern era, will play out a game of rugby league chess to see who really is the true master of the NRL.

Keeping a big group of players hungry and motivated each week is the hardest task a coach must accomplish.

It’s an equation that coaches try to solve each week as some follow up dominant performances with woeful ones and vice-versa.

Cleary and Bellamy have done the math and solved it .

Bellamy has kept the Storm in premiership contention for 22 years and Cleary has done the same at Penrith since 2020.

Both clubs never have a week off and rest on their laurels

Cleary is 80 minutes away from winning a fourth-straight premiership – something Bellamy and “supercoach” Wayne Bennett haven’t come close to.

Not only has Cleary won three comps on the trot, but he’s done it at an amazing winning rate of 76 per cent.

And he has done it with his son, star halfback Nathan, by his side. The pair are one of the most successful father-son sporting combinations.

Former premiership winner and NRLW coach Jamie Soward, who played under Cleary during Ivan’s first stint at Penrith from 2012-2015, said what Cleary has been able to do at Penrith has been “remarkable”.

“He’s found ways to keep selling the story and for me, as a young coach, I’ve taken a lot of lessons out of watching Ivan,” Soward told The Nightly.

“What Ivan’s been able to do is continue to evolve. It’s remarkable that they’ve mentally been able to stay on top.”

Even Sir Alex Ferguson couldn’t always keep his all-conquering Manchester United motivated like Cleary has with his Penrith players.

After Manchester United famously won the Treble in 1999, they couldn’t repeat their success in Europe the next season and were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarterfinals.

Legendary captain Roy Keane knew why.

“The hunger just wasn’t there,” Keane said.

“You watch any sportspeople, boxers, or anything, and you slacken off one or two per cent and you’re found out.

“After we won the Treble, I read a few quotes from different players who said at the time: ‘I don’t care if I never win another trophy again’ or ‘it doesn’t matter what happens’.

“And I’m thinking, it does, you know, there’s next year.”

In contrast, Penrith captain Nathan Cleary said in his grand final-winning speech last year that the Panthers were “just getting started”.

Repeated success hasn’t quelled the hunger at Penrith.

The squad came back for day one of pre-season in 2022 after winning the first of their three-straight titles determined to continue their success..

Ivan Cleary said after they won the title later that year that, “from day one all I saw was hunger”.

Maybe that’s the key – find players who actually don’t need to be inspired.

ALREADY AN ALL-TIME GREAT

Cleary’s done what Wayne Bennett and Bellamy could only dream of, and now is looking to go past Coach of the Century Jack Gibson.

Cleary will become the first coach to win four-straight premierships with another title success on Sunday.

Bennett claimed two in a row in 1992 and 1993 with Brisbane while Bellamy hasn’t been able to go back-to-back in his remarkable career.

Cleary has matched Gibson’s threepeat with Parramatta in the early 1980s and Soward, who was St George Illawarra’s NRLW coach this season, said Cleary had nothing left to prove.

“I think he’s already there alongside the all-time greats,” Soward said.

Former Penrith premiership-winning captain Craig Gower said the sustained success has been “hard to believe”.

“I texted Nathan the other day and (said) there’s so much respect that goes to the boys and what they’re achieving,” Gower said.

“Who would’ve thought in this day and age with the salary cap, but they keep aiming up and it’s great to watch.

“If they beat Melbourne it will probably be the best win they’ve had.

“They are now the underdogs and Melbourne beat them twice during the year.”

LOSING BUT STILL WINNING

Many have marvelled at the way Cleary has been able to keep Penrith winning despite losing many star players.

Matt Burton, Kurt Capewell, Api Koroisau, Stephen Crichton, J’maine Hopgood and Spencer Leniu are the State of Origin players he’s lost along with Fijian powerhouse Viliame Kikau.

But Cleary’s also lost all of his assistant coaches.

Trent Barrett, Cameron Ciraldo and Andrew Webster have moved on to take head coaching jobs at other clubs.

When Barrett left critics said Penrith’s attack would suffer and when Ciraldo left they said the defence wouldn’t be the same.

But it hasn’t happened.

“Ivan’s been the mainstay of that organisation and I just think it’s been remarkable to watch him,” Soward said.

“He’s always so calm and you never see him flustered.

“I’m only 28 games into my coaching career and the one thing you have to have, and Penrith have got it, is that they trust and believe in what Ivan is saying.

“The attack coaches and defence coaches have changed but they’ve evolved and got better and no-one’s been able to mirror their style.”

NOT ALWAYS CLEARY

Soward was coached by Cleary in 2014 and 2015 and gave an insight into what the coach is like.

And it’s not as straightforward as many would think, which is surprising considering the strength of most great sporting coaches is keeping things very clear and simple.

“When I had Ivan in 2014 he was trying to teach me stuff that was going over my head,” Soward said.

“I got a chance to go and walk the Kokoda Track with him and I learned about his style.

“It’s not always black and white with Ivan. There’s a lot of grey there.

“It wasn’t always right or wrong. There were different ways to skin a cat and I’d never heard of his style before.

“Let’s just say, we’re in video and I’d say to Ivan ‘is that what we want’ and he’d say ‘well, it’s a grey game, not everything’s black and white’ and that made me look at things through a different lens.

“Sometimes you’re going to be in situations where you are going to make the right or wrong decision but there are other times where there’s a little bit of grey and that decision might reflect on the team.”

Cleary himself said one of the most important things he’s done is instil the Penrith culture into young players from day one.

“We’re a development club and pride ourselves on bringing players through and they understand what it’s about to play for the Panthers,” he said.

“The sooner we can get that into them, the better. It’s not so much about the individual players, it’s how they all connect together.”

ORIGIN COACH?

Cleary’s name has been put up as one to replace Michael Maguire as NSW Origin coach.

And when asked about the possibility of taking on the role next year, he didn’t rule it out.

“No idea,” Cleary said.

If he does coach NSW next year, he’ll no doubt bring his Penrith formula into Blues camp – character over talent.