Ivan Cleary doesn't believe he owes any apologies but admits he'd like to change the way he left West Tigers. The Penrith coach will face his former team for the first time since sensationally walking away to return to the Panthers when the two sides meet in a potentially fiery NRL clash on Friday night. While he has previously spoken about the reasons for going back to the Panthers, Cleary on Thursday opened up for the first time about the ugly end at Concord. "I'd like to change the way it happened but, under the circumstances, I was open and honest about it and did the best I could," Cleary said. "The fact that we've been talking about it for six months, and it was dragged through the press for so long, that'd be the first thing I'd change. "But sometimes you've just got to get with the circumstances as they were and it was just one of those situations." Cleary's move to Penrith still leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of some Tigers supporters, who embraced his rebuild at the club when he took over in 2017.
