LIVE: Ivan Cleary to make major Penrith Panthers announcement

Speculation is building Penrith Panthers head coach Ivan Cleary will announce he is stepping away from head coaching at a snap announcement on Wednesday afternoon.

The head coach, contracted until the end of 2027, is scheduled to appear at a major announcement alongside Panthers Chairman Peter Graham and CEO Matt Cameron at 2pm (AEST) on Wednesday.

Zero Tackle were originally of the understanding it was simply to announce a re-signing and that he would extend his tenure beyond the end of 2027, however, conflicting reports have since emerged.

Follow the announcement, the build up and the analysis straight afterwards live on Zero Tackle.

This page will automatically update every two minutes.

1:35pm (AEST)

We should be underway in about 25 minutes at Penrith.

If he is indeed exiting, you'd have to imagine Nathan Cleary isn't the only player in danger of leaving. Penrith's salary cap is tight, there is no doubt about that.

Isaah Yeo, Mitch Kenny and Liam Martin are among the players who have already been linked with other clubs including PNG, although if Nathan Cleary leaves, it will certainly shuffle the salary cap situation.

1:25pm (AEST)

Nathan Cleary might wind up in PNG because of this, but is there a chance Ivan Cleary does the same in some sort of back room role?

The club have been linked to the duo already. Willie Peters is certainly going to be the head coach for their first seasons in existence, but no doubt if the Cleary's become available, the Chiefs would throw the kitchen sink at the father-son duo.

Other clubs could also make a play for Cleary if there isn't an office role immediately available at the Panthers. The Dragons come to mind given they recently cut ties with their head of football, while the Perth Bears are having plenty of problems and could benefit enormously from the current Penrith coach's arrival.

1:10pm (AEST)

Maybe one of the bigger question marks to come out of this afternoon is going to be Nathan Cleary's future.

He has pretty openly discussed the fact he is considering heading to November 1 for the first time in his career, and if his father isn't going to be the coach long-term, you'd expect that process will play out.

His partner Mary Fowler lives in the United Kingdom with her soccer career, while there is also the potential of linking up with Jarome Luai at the PNG Chiefs - the duo won four premierships together at the Panthers, and tax free dollars are on offer.

This could be a monumental day for the Panthers in more ways than one.

1pm (AEST)

It has emerged that Ivan Cleary could be keen to try his hand at representative coaching per News Corp. He is unlikely to coach against the Penrith Panthers if today's announcement is indeed to announce his exit at the end of 2027.

Interesting timing there - if the Blues lose this series you'd imagine a new coach will be in for 2027, but if Ivan Cleary suddenly wants the job in 2028...

12:45pm (AEST)

Question posed in our comment section - "Who is the Panthers director of football and how long does he have on his contract?"

Interestingly, Penrith do not have a director of football - they have a "rugby league CEO" who essentially carries out the same job.

He has been part of the Panthers since 2012 and promoted to this current role in March of 2022, but there is no information available on his contract, or whether there is actually an expiry date.

There is a very good chance Ivan Cleary will have to go elsewhere if he wants to become a director of football, or the Panthers could well alter the structure of their football department. Plenty of questions to be answered this afternoon we suspect.

12:30pm (AEST)

Ivan Cleary has made no secret of the fact he wants to take up a director of football type role once he gives up the clipboard. Could well be that Penrith keep him employed down that route if he is indeed about to tell us that last year will be his last as a head coach.

If that is indeed the case, then it will give the Panthers 18 months or so to get a new coach ready to go - hard to see them going outside of their own system to employ one given the success they have had over the journey has all come from their own system, and promoting their own players.

12:24pm (AEST)

So, here is the latest.

Zero Tackle understood this morning that the announcement was likely to be a re-signing, however, it has since been reported by Channel 9 that Cleary is going to quit his post.

It's understood he will coach to the end of his contract in 2027.

12:20pm (AEST)

A potentially monumental day at the foot of the mountains ahead, with some sort of announcement expected on Ivan Cleary's future.

Cleary has been in charge of the Panthers since 2019, winning four premierships and coaching the side to five grand finals in a row before falling short in the 2025 preliminary final.

He will tick past 200 games in charge of the club in his second stint by the end of the year, to go with 98 from his first stint between 2012 and 2015.

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