- Ivan Cleary talks about depression, medications and finding help
- Talks about breakup with Phil Gould after returning to the Panthers
- If you require support, please contact Lifeline 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636
Champion Penrith coach Ivan Cleary has opened up about some extremely personal issues, including a battle with depression that left him struggling to even get out of bed.
The four-time premiership-winning coach is on top of the world after Penrith’s historic victory against the Storm last Sunday in the NRL decider, but few know how much the reserved 53-year-old has struggled in his life private.
When Cleary returned to Penrith in 2019 after a difficult season with the Tigers, he noticed his mental health deteriorating.
“I remember before that I didn’t want to get out of bed a couple of times in my career, so I started to realize what I was experiencing,” Cleary said. News Corporation.
‘I was realizing that I really needed help.
‘I actually ended up looking back (on my life) and realized that I had (previously) felt signs of depression. I was struggling a lot.
‘One of my brothers helped me. He had been through a lot in his personal life and obviously my wife was constantly talking to me about it.’
Cleary, who ended up taking antidepressants, wants more men to talk about their problems in a bid to save lives.
Ivan Cleary (pictured) says he was struggling a lot with his mental health in 2019
Cleary (pictured in 2018 with the Tigers) wants men to talk about depression
“The thing about men is that we just don’t talk about depression,” Cleary said.
‘If you do, you feel like a failure.
‘And you know, there’s the problem that you have to be strong enough to be able to carry the can and get through it.
‘I’m going to talk about men in this case, where they have the responsibility of being the breadwinners for their family or they just have other struggles in their lives.
“But that doesn’t mean you’re not resilient or that you’re not tough, just because you need to talk it out.”
“And often just talking about it helps, you realize that other people are going through the same thing and that can sometimes give you the drive to keep going.”
Cleary also recently opened up about her breakup with NRL icon Phil Gould.
In his new book ‘Not everything counts but everything matters’Cleary explains how he felt Gould was undermining him with comments made on television.
Cleary (pictured after winning the NRL decider) revealed he has not spoken to Phil Gould since 2019.
Cleary (pictured with wife Rebecca) is a four-time premiership-winning trainer.
Gould, who had previously sacked him in 2015, said he wanted Wayne Bennett at Penrith and had no part in Cleary returning to the club.
Cleary confronted Gould about the issue with a phone call and the pair have not spoken since.
“It did me a lot of good, but it also hurt me,” Cleary writes.
If this has raised any issues for you, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.
