Referee Career
Vital Statistics
- Born
- Monday, 1st March, 1971
- Current Age
- 53 years and 54 days
Awards & Accolades
- Dally M Coach Of The Year
- 2014, 2020
Known Family Links
- Brother-in-law
- Jason Death
- Josh Stuart
- Son
- Nathan Cleary
- Father-in-law
- John Stuart
Biography
Manly junior had a great season at fullback while deputising for the injured Matthew Ridge in 1993. Cleary's standout performances earned him a contract with Norths but after being injured in the early part of the season, he made his comeback in the centres because of the good form of rookie Matt Seers. Cleary showed both his class and adaptability during the Bears' charge to the preliminary final in 1994 but coveted a full-back/goal-kicker’s role and announced his intention to play for Easts after the 1995 season. In 1998 he surpassed Mick Cronin’s long-standing premiership record when he scored 284pts for the season (since surpassed by the Bulldogs’ Hazem El Masri. In 1999, he suffered a dislocated hip in a pre-season trial against Norths but left the Roosters at the end of the year to link with the Warriors. Cleary retired at the end of 2002 following the Warriors’ grand final loss (a season in which Cleary scored a club record 242pts) to take on an assistant coach’s role with Roosters. Cleary returned to the Warriors as an assistant coach to Tony Camp the following year and took over as Warriors coach in 2006 – the year the club was docked four competition points for salary cap breaches before the season even started.
- ALAN WHITICKER
Referee Career Statistics
All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.
To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.
Contributions:
Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, AJ Lucantonio, Alan Katzmann, Paul Carter, Greg Fiveash, Max Turner
Sources:
ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1996, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1997, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2000, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2003, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1999, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2002, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1998, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2001, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1992-93, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1994, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1995
Your Say
09/03/2017
Ivan should have played rep football
31/01/2021
Ivan lacked speed, which was an attribute that representative selectors demanded then and now! There were too many fullbacks, centres and wingers ahead of him. He was a rock solid first grader, though!
08/04/2021
He is truly a amazing rugby league man
24/04/2021
struggled several times with defense
01/10/2021
Decent player, average bloke
25/09/2023
nah. he was a solid but not flashy player. suprised he never played city origin though.
Want to have your say about this player? Add a comment.