Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary still expects his father Ivan to play a key role in his career, even as head coach of Wests Tigers.
Ivan Cleary signed a three-and-a-half year deal to coach the Tigers until the end of the 2020 NRL season on Monday, after a fortnight of speculation.
Cleary last coached at the Panthers in 2015, and his closest interaction with NRL coaching has been with his own son in a non-official capacity.
And Nathan said he didn't expect that to change for the rest of 2017 and beyond.
"He's always said that he will help me out, and I'm really appreciative of that," Nathan Cleary said.
"Just because he's coaching another team doesn't mean he can't help me out with little aspects of my game."
The up-and-coming star was in Penrith's under-20s team when his father was sacked as Panthers coach at the end of 2015.
He has never been officially led by his father in the NRL, and said they last combined as a player and coach combination in under-six soccer.
"He was pretty ordinary actually I think," the 19-year-old joked.
The pair also insist they won't be reunited in an official sense any time soon.
Ivan laughed off suggestions on Monday he would pursue Nathan's signature at the Tigers, once he is off-contract at the end of 2019.
Nathan also had a clause in his contract removed in 2015 which would have allowed him to follow his father to any club he coached at.
"I'm very happy here at the moment and it hasn't really crossed my mind," Nathan reiterated on Tuesday.
The Panthers halfback still lives at home with his family and the Clearys had two reasons to celebrate on Monday night.
They already had a dinner planned for Nathan's younger brother, Jett's 12th birthday, before father Ivan stole the spotlight.
And the Penrith halfback insisted things would still be as positive in the lead-in to their round 22 clash, when they meet for the first time at Pepper Stadium.
"There'll be a bit of banter about but it should be fun," he said.
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