{"id":581521,"date":"2026-04-02T22:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T22:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/581521\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T22:00:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T22:00:19","slug":"how-ivan-cleary-is-mastering-craig-bellamys-most-famous-coaching-trick-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/581521\/","title":{"rendered":"How Ivan Cleary is mastering Craig Bellamy\u2019s most famous coaching trick"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ivan Cleary has drawn inspiration from Craig Bellamy more than once.<\/p>\n

When Penrith\u2019s rotten 2019 campaign proved the turning point that sparked a dynasty \u2013 but not before Cleary considered walking away from the club \u2013 it was the Storm culture that he eventually set about emulating<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most tellingly, Cleary told his players \u201cI\u2019m inspired by Melbourne\u201d before their 2023 preliminary final clash with the Storm, in a moving speech later shared with the world<\/a> in the club\u2019s Undisputed documentary.<\/p>\n

At the heart of Penrith\u2019s overtaking of the Storm as the competition\u2019s premier side lies one of Bellamy\u2019s most enduring calling cards as a coach.<\/p>\n

Bellamy\u2019s ability to lift the likes of Bryan Norrie from Wagga Wagga to an NRL title, or Brenko Lee to Queensland Origin honours within a year of being labelled \u201cnot a first-grader\u201d by the Titans, is legendary.<\/p>\n

Jaiman Lowe. Ben Cross. Kirk Reynoldson. More recently, Grant Anderson, Nick Meaney and Josh King. Rugby league journeymen elevated beyond not just what the rest of the game, but they themselves, figured possible, with careers revived or outright saved on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

\"IvanIvan Cleary is emulating one of Craig Bellamy\u2019s most acclaimed NRL achievements at Penrith.Monique Westermann<\/p>\n

\u201cI can see a bit of that at Penrith too, it\u2019s a fair point,\u201d says Tom Jenkins, one of several Panthers rejuvenated after being cut loose from rival clubs, ahead of the Good Friday showdown with the Storm.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost importantly in that, I think it comes down to the culture that\u2019s been built at the club.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great [Panthers scout] Jimmy Jones always says, \u2018you don\u2019t play good footy unless you\u2019re happy\u2019. I think the improvement you see in players here is a product of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut also, people say Penrith is a \u2018system team\u2019 and we all fit into that. There definitely is a system of play but I think the coaching staff are really strong on working with each of us and building our strengths into the game plan.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cYou work out who you can express yourself and play your footy in that system, and that\u2019s probably the changes that happen each year, and the little things that help us succeed, and really play with confidence too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenkins is the poster boy for Penrith \u201cpulling a Melbourne\u201d with an individual.<\/p>\n

In a little over a year, he cut short a Knights contract to play Ron Massey Cup, took up an invitation to train with Penrith\u2019s NSW Cup side, turned that into an $85,000 development deal and is now in talks over a multi-year extension.<\/a><\/p>\n

The 25-year-old holds his own slice of rugby league history, too. His 10 tries in four games this year sit alongside Dragons great Jack Lindwall (brother of cricketing icon Ray Lindwall) in 1948 as the most prolific try-scoring start to a season.<\/p>\n

\"PaulPaul Alamoti leaves a Sharks defender in his wake earlier this year.Getty Images<\/p>\n

On Penrith\u2019s opposite edge, Paul Alamoti is one of the form centres of the competition.<\/p>\n

Once touted for big things at Canterbury as a prodigious junior talent, the Tongan international has eventually realised his potential at the Panthers. But only after signing for roughly half the $450,000 he was earning<\/a> in his last Bulldogs deal.<\/p>\n

Veteran back-rowers Scott Sorensen and Luke Garner have enjoyed similar upswings in the Penrith system.<\/p>\n

Isaiah Papalii is into his second season at the club and back to the form that won him Dally M back-rower of the year honours at Parramatta. And again, only after failing to live up to his hype as a marquee signing at the Tigers.<\/p>\n

\"PrettyPretty in pink: Isaiah Papali\u2019i.NRL Imagery<\/p>\n

Life obviously gets easier playing alongside Nathan Cleary, Isaiah Yeo, Dylan Edwards and Co, with Ivan Cleary overseeing it all.<\/p>\n

But like Bellamy\u2019s well-worn systems at Melbourne, the new arrivals only get out what they put in. And no-one gets a free ride.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Lachlan<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe leadership in our group from guys like Dyl, Cleary, and Isaiah, those boys have accomplished so much in the game,\u201d Alamoti says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still pinch myself every day coming in. When I first came to Penrith, it opened my eyes to see how they train and every day the standards are just so high.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way they compete every day, you can see how they\u2019ve brought success to the club\u201d.<\/p>\n

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\"DanDan Walsh<\/a> is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581289,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-581521","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581521"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581521\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}