29 Jun 2011

Cleary suggests replacement should come from within club

1:10 pm on 29 June 2011

The outgoing Warriors coach Ivan Cleary is reluctant to nominate a successor but doesn't think the National Rugby League club has to look too far afield.

Cleary will leave the Auckland based side at the end of the season to take up a 3-year deal with the Penrith Panthers.

While the former Warriors player was contracted until the end of the 2012 season, chief executive Wayne Scurrah says both parties had agreed on an early release.

Cleary says securing his future was the main motivation behind his decision, with the Warriors unable to offer him as long-term a deal as Penrith, but he's adamant the Warriors new coach should come from within.

Cleary, the club's record holder for most games as an NRL coach, says he'll always remain indebted to the Warriors for the opportunity he had been given to become a first-grade coach in 2006.

The former Leeds Rhinos and New Zealand Test coach Brian McClennan and Warriors assistant Tony Iro are frontrunners to replace Cleary at the Auckland club.