Bonus for Tigers out of Cleary’s departure

PENRITH will pay for the majority of Michael Maguire’s salary for the first year of his employment at Wests Tigers.

In the wake Ivan Cleary’s defection back to the club that sacked him three years ago, the Cairns Post can reveal that the Tigers will pocket a huge financial settlement, believed to be in the vicinity of $500,000 to let Cleary walk from the finals two years of his contract.

After working through the settlement details, the club informed the Tigers’ captaincy group on Friday before all players and staff gathered at Concord on Saturday prior to yesterday’s public announcement on the closure of one of the ugliest breakups in recent NRL history.

While Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe would not comment on the settlement figure reached, he was adamant they had made the most out of a situation the club never asked to be in.

“I am not going to talk about it because it is a professional process that has taken place,” Pascoe said.

“As a club we have been really proud of the fact that through these negotiations we have played this out professionally behind closed doors. It will remain behind closed doors.

“The conversations we had always, from our perspective, were to get to a point which was to make sure the club came out in the most favourable position possible.

“I know we have achieved that through the exit of Ivan and also the acquisition and hire of Michael.”

Asked if he believed Tigers fans now deserved an explanation from Cleary, Pascoe said: “Look, I think Ivan has his reasons for wanting to go and coach his son (Nathan).

“He has made that very publicly clear. “That is a question for Ivan. “But certainly, with all the decisions we have made over the last 12 weeks, I get why it is frustrating for fans, I really do. “And it is not just fans. “It is stakeholders who contribute financially to the club.

“It is the players. It is the staff. It is everyone.”