Ivan Cleary says his future is tied to Penrith and his son Nathan who is on the verge of returning

Penrith coach Ivan Cleary says the “remodelling” work he’s doing with the ever-evolving Panthers is satisfying enough amid reported interest from potential NRL expansion teams also giving a sharp “no” when asked if he would ever coach against his superstar son Nathan.

A return for the playmaking gun looks set for the round 20 clash with the Dolphins and Ivan said Nathan would come back “really hungry” and undaunted by any mental demons after several injury setbacks this season.

Panthers officials have gone on record with their desire to keep both Clearys, who already have long-term deals at the club, in Penrith for life with at least two and possibly three expansion teams to join the competition in coming years.

Ivan, a three-time premiership winning coach who is locked in at Penrith until the end of 2027, said he’d had “no thoughts” about going anywhere else, but did concede three years was a “long time”.

But any move to another club, as unlikely as it may seem, would demand taking Nathan too.

“I love the Panthers, I have no thoughts about going anywhere else,” Ivan said on Thursday.

“I’m still here for three years, that’s a long time, I am not thinking about the future too much. I love being part of the community, I love the responsibility we have to have an influence on the community, I love the boys and the staff. It’s just a great place to be.”

Ivan said it was “flattering” to be talked about as someone who could help build a club from scratch, but said he felt he was doing something similar at the Panthers having lost a host of star players during their run of three NRL titles.

“I’ve been around the block a bit, got some experience building teams,” he said.

“But I’m happy doing what I am doing. We feel like we are remodelling our team here each year too as we keep losing players.

“It’s fun what I am doing here and I’m loving every minute of it.”

Nathan hasn’t played since round 10, missing the entire State of Origin series with a hamstring issue and Ivan said his training had dispelled any doubts about him returning on scheduled, and ready to go.

“It’s two weeks away but it’s not locked in, that was the long term plan, but at this stage he’s tracking well.” he said.

“Just watching him and the way we have gone about the rehab, I feel pretty god about it. I think he’ll be really hungry.”