David Skipwith: Talk of Cleary's return could become self-fulfilling prophecy

Ivan Cleary is held in high esteem by long-suffering Warriors fans due to the success he helped achieve in his time here both as a player (2000-2002) and coach (2006-2011). Photo/Getty.

The aftershocks from Ivan Cleary's sensational sacking from Penrith are being felt most strongly here in New Zealand and threaten to destabilise Andrew McFadden's future at the Warriors.

Speculation that Cleary was in line to return to the Warriors was in the air for several weeks before his departure from the Panthers was announced on Monday. That talk has already intensified and will only continue to do so between now and round one of next season.

You have to feel for McFadden, who finished this season under immense pressure after the Warriors lost their last eight games to finish 13th. He must feel as though the walls are closing in around him as he prepares for the start of preseason training on November 1.

Warriors managing director Jim Doyle couldn't be any more emphatic in denying the club has made any approach to Cleary, but despite being staunch in backing McFadden as Warriors coach for next season, he has stopped short of guaranteeing that his role is secure through to the end of his contract at the end of 2017.

Cleary's exit from Penrith with a year remaining on his contract shows there are no guarantees as an NRL coach. Whether or not there is any truth to talk that his return to New Zealand is inevitable, the worry for McFadden is that this becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Widely accepted as one of the best coaches in the NRL, Cleary is held in high esteem by long-suffering Warriors fans due to the success he helped achieve in his time here, both as a player (2000-2002) and coach (2006-2011).

Since his departure, the Warriors coach's office has had a revolving door that's seen Brian McClennan, Tony Iro (ever so briefly), and Matt Elliott come and go with no chance to build the team and develop and implement systems, before McFadden was given his chance.

After taking over from Elliott five rounds into last year's campaign, McFadden has only had the past year to begin molding the team to his liking, with Ryan Hoffman this season's chief acquisition, and several impressive youngsters emerging under his watch.

Doyle's arrival at the club a year ago proved instrumental in securing both Issac Luke and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck for next season, and McFadden now has a roster that screams top four.

But just how long he has to prove he can get the best out of the wealth of talent at his disposal remains to be seen.

Should the Warriors get off to a slow start next year then the already mounting pressure will reach bursting point and only then will we see whether the club is committed and patient enough to give McFadden further time to refine his team.

At just 37, and heading into his second preseason, McFadden is barely out of the rookie phase of his coaching career and the past two seasons will have taught him plenty of valuable lessons that all good coaches need to absorb.

He can only hope that the Warriors deliver on immense expectations - or that Cleary quickly finds another gig somewhere else - to put an end to talk of him falling victim to a coup d'état.

There don't appear to be any obvious vacancies in the NRL coaching ranks right now but as this week's developments have shown, an opportunity could present itself at any time.