A video featuring Penrith coach Ivan Cleary interacting with a Bulldogs fan has surfaced after the Panthers suffered a surprising 32-16 defeat to Canterbury on Thursday night.
The footage, reported by News Corp, captures a Bulldogs supporter taunting Cleary in the match’s closing moments, yelling “let’s go” towards the coaching box.
While Cleary was seen sipping a bottle of water, he responded by gesturing with his hand.
Sources suggest that both the Panthers and NRL officials are aware of the incident, but it’s unclear if any disciplinary action will be taken against the four-time premiership-winning coach.
This isn’t Cleary’s first run-in with fans; he previously blew kisses to Tigers supporters when he returned to Leichhardt Oval as the coach of Penrith in 2020.
The exchange with the Bulldogs fan was not brought up during the post-match press conference.
Ivan Cleary in the closing moments of Thursday night’s match. X
In the wake of the loss, Cleary suggested that discussions around representative football may have distracted his much-admired outside backs.
Prior to the match, Penrith made history by being the first team to secure their first five games with margins exceeding 20 points, sparking speculation about Mclean and Jenkins being considered for this year’s Blues.
Cleary acknowledged the chatter surrounding his players in the post-match discussion.
“Yeah, maybe they’re starting to think about Origin camp,” he commented when questioned about his left edge’s performance.
Ivan Cleary addressing the media after the match. Nine
“Some players dropped their level a bit, but as I’ve said, they’re young and this is all part of their learning experience,” Cleary added.
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“I’m confident they will bounce back.”
Penrith fell 16-0 behind before managing to equalise, but the Bulldogs found an extra gear after the break.
“We showed some promising signs during the latter part of the first half, though I didn’t feel we were at our best,” Cleary noted.
“To their credit, they were just tougher than us, and we didn’t respond well enough. They absolutely deserved their victory.”
“It was a reminder of what a hard-fought game of footy looks like, and I’m certain we’ll benefit from it.”
Co-captain Isaah Yeo echoed thoughts about the distractions in recent weeks and how this loss could benefit the younger players.
“Rugby league is the ultimate equaliser, so this may be just what we need to silence some of the chatter about going unbeaten this season,” Yeo stated.
“That’s definitely not the case anymore, but I believe we can reflect on this and learn from it.”
“We’ve been able to take lessons from recent weeks as well; we’ve often held strong leads, while tonight we found ourselves well behind, creating a different game dynamic.”
“I think we can learn from that, and ultimately, we’ll emerge stronger. It may also quieten down some of the chatter, which isn’t a bad thing.”
Compiled by SportArena.au
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