A decade after guiding NZ Warriors into his first NRL Grand Final as a coach, Penrith Panthers maestro Ivan Cleary hopes for third time lucky against South Sydney Rabbitohs on Sunday.
After losing to Melbourne Storm in last year's main event, Cleary and Penrith are back for revenge, but he'll have to get past one of the greatest coaches of all time - Wayne Bennett - to walk away with the silverware.
Bennett will be out to extend his record NRL title haul to eight at Suncorp Stadium.
"They're pretty hard to win, so I haven't been able to think too much about that," Bennett says.
Cleary - who also tasted defeat as Warriors fullback in the 2002 Grand Final - is under no illusion he's very much in the role of apprentice to 'master coach' Bennett.
"Wayne actually gave me a few tips when I started coaching... tips that I still use today, so I'm grateful for that," says Cleary.
But the pair's recent history has been more heated, engaging in some verbal sparring last month, when Cleary accused Bennett of manipulating referees.
On the field, two Panthers wins over the Rabbitohs in the regular season went out the window in round one of the finals, when Souths took the spoils.
But Cleary's men still wear the scars of last year's defeat to the Storm, when they fought back from a 22-0 halftime deficit to ultimately fall to an agonising 26-20 loss.
"We got to the Grand Final and the Storm - as they're so good at - got the jump on us," Cleary reflects. "We couldn't quite handle it."
This time around, Cleary hopes he has what it takes to come away with a different outcome.
Join us on Sunday from 10pm for live updates of the NRL Grand Final between Penrith and South Sydney
