Call me a cynic.

But I’m not buying for a second that Ivan Cleary will simply ride off into the sunset once he walks away from coaching Penrith at the end of 2027.

Sure, Cleary sounded genuine when he fronted Wednesday’s shock media conference and insisted he had no desire to coach another NRL club.

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And to be fair, there was nothing in his tone that even slightly suggested he was trying to create a bidding war by putting himself in the shop window.

But remember, this is the NRL.

And when arguably the greatest coach of the modern era suddenly becomes available, rival clubs don’t politely respect boundaries.

They go for the kill.

And Cleary can say all he wants that he plans to move into a consultancy role with Penrith moving forward, while expressing a desire to coach at rep level.

But the reality is by announcing his plans this far out from the end of his current contract, it just means that the next 18 months will now be filled with constant speculation.

You can almost guarantee that rival clubs will be doing everything in their power to try and change Cleary’s mind about not coaching against the Panthers.

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Cleary Announces Departure: Full Presser | 27:35

And with Craig Bellamy’s future unclear because of health issues, and Wayne Bennett not getting any younger, Cleary just instantly became the most valuable coaching commodity on the open market.

Especially when you factor in that Cleary is still only 55 _ more than a decade younger than Bellamy, and 21 years younger than Bennett.

Yet Cleary has also showed an ability to continually regenerate a roster despite losing a multitude of stars over the course of the Panthers’ four premiership titles.

Which is why his future instantly becomes the biggest talking point in the game, despite the message Cleary wanted to get out in public on Wednesday.

There has already been whispers in recent weeks linking Cleary to potentially replacing Trent Robinson at the Roosters, with Nathan’s name also in the mix.

And whether there’s any substance to that speculation almost doesn’t matter anymore, because rugby league as a history of dining out on these rumours regardless.

Cleary’s comments about being open to coaching at rep level has also instantly put the heat on NSW coach Laurie Daley as well as Australian Test coach Kevin Walters.

Daley is only contracted to coach the Blues for this year’s Origin series.

Ivan reveals Nathan’s response | 00:43

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While Walters’ situation with the Kangaroos isn’t exactly what you’d call secure.

It’s also impossible to ignore the timing surrounding several others off contract Penrith players.

Most notably, Nathan is also off contract at the end of next season, and the champion playmaker has already indicated that he wants to test the open market come November 1.

Whether Ivan likes it or not, the father-son combination now becomes the most wanted package deal the NRL has seen in years.

Then there’s the list of other Panthers also approaching the end of their current contracts _ with the likes of Isaah Yeo, Liam Martin, Brian To’o, Mitch Kenny, Moses Leota, Isaiah Papali’i, Blaize Talagi and Paul Alamoti all free to negotiate in November.

Yeo and Martin have indicated they are keen to see what interest is out there.

But there’s another side to this story that Panthers fans should embrace, because this announcement will also become the ultimate motivation.

The Panthers were already looking ominous this season.

But you’d imagine that motivation will go through the roof on the back of Cleary’s announcement knowing the countdown is officially on for the final chapter of one of the greatest eras in the modern game.

‘No interest’ Cleary clue on future | 00:57

Credit should also go to the Panthers for the way they’ve tried to handle the succession plan.

Too often, coaching transitions don’t come with near this much planning or transparency.

But the Panthers have at least tried to create a clean handover by announcing Peter Wallace will take over in 2028.

Cleary’s current assistant is highly regarded internally and obviously has the trust and respect of not just the players but the entire club.

Still, none of that will stop the outside noise surrounding the Cleary’s.

All it has really done is signal ‘game on’ in the race to see if anyone can make Ivan change his mind between now and the end of next season.