WAGGA WAGGA, AUSTRALIA - MAY 04: Ivan Cleary, Coach of the Panthers, looks on during his teams warm up before the round eight NRL match between the Canberra Raiders and the Penrith Panthers at McDonalds Park on May 04, 2019 in Wagga Wagga, Australia. (Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
Penrith Panthers CEO Brian Fletcher has claimed Phil Gould personally sacked Ivan Cleary in 2015, rather than it being a club-made decision.
Ahead of the Panthers’ grand final clash with the Brisbane Broncos on Sunday, their club boss made a quick but notable claim about Cleary’s departure eight years ago.the remark also
Cleary was dismissed as Penrith’s head coach late in 2015, with the club narrowly avoiding the wooden spoon.
Gould was Penrith’s general manager at the time — a role he currently holds at the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.
Their CEO has now claimed that the club did not opt to sack Cleary, with Gould making the decision himself.
“He wasn’t actually sacked by the club,” Fletcher told 2DAY FM’s Hughesy, Ed & Erin.
Cleary was replaced by Anthony Griffin the following season, but he only lasted for three years of his four-year deal.
The Panthers then opted to reinstate Cleary as coach in 2019, where he oversaw them claim a 10th-place finish.
Since then, the club has dominated the NRL, playing in three consecutive grand finals and winning two of them.
When asked by host Erin Molan whether it was the wrong decision to let Cleary go in 2015, Fletcher had a simple response.
“Well, it looks like it,” he sai
