MY DAD must be feeling confident. He asked me to put a wager on earlier this week with the loser to cop the cooking duties for a week.

Joke’s on him though, I’m a rubbish cook.

So win or lose, it won’t work out too well for him.

All jokes aside, it’s not every day you get to play against a team your dad coaches.

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Last year I got the wood over him and despite his claims that I was sledging him; I thought I was pretty humble in victory but Dad, if you’re reading this — just remember it’s 1-0.

Now he has the chance to even the score on Thursday night when my Panthers face his Tigers.

Due to the nature of this week, I’ve been asked a lot of questions about my dad and it’s brought plenty of memories.

Former Roosters coach Ivan Cleary at home with wife Rebecca and son Nathan. Source: News Corp Australia

My earliest memory of Dad and rugby league is from our time in New Zealand.

It was around 2000 while he was playing for the Warriors and he took me and my little sister down to the park.

He brought a few balls and a kicking tee with him.

Dad would practice his kicks at goal and my sister, Indiana, and I would chase after the balls and bring them back to him.

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After a little while, it started to rain so Indiana and I raced back to the car to get dry but Dad stayed out in the pouring rain kicking for another 15 minutes.

Indiana’s 14 months younger than me and she was getting really impatient and started beeping the horn because she wanted to go home but dad tuned out the noise echoing from the car park and kept practicing his kicks.

Ivan Cleary congratulates Manu Vatuvei after a win while coaching the Warriors. Source: News Limited

He was dedicated to his kicking, just as he’s dedicated to his coaching and I have to admit, his work ethic has rubbed off on me.

It’s been ingrained in me from a young age. You have to put in the hours, to get the rewards.

He’s always set a great example for me and my siblings. I’ve brought a lot of my dad’s attributes into my own game.

It’s actually because of him I started kicking at a junior level.

While I played soccer as a kid, once I started playing rugby league, goal kicking was a no brainer.

I always thought it was the coolest thing to know my dad kicked so it was a role I gravitated to.

Dad could tell you I’ve been kicking footies and soccer balls since I could walk.

I always found it fun kicking the ball around at the park whether it was with my mates or dad.

He was someone I looked up to. He still is.

I’m really fortunate to have such a supportive family.

Having witnessed the dedication my dad gave, I knew from a young age what it would take to make it in the NRL.

Still, a lot of people don’t see the sacrifice, especially at a young age.

I’ve never been one to feel much pressure so living up to expectations of a famous last name didn’t bother me but the snide remarks from opposition parents saying I only made the team because of my dad did.

It annoyed me because I knew I earned my spot in junior the rep teams.

It probably toughened me up a bit and taught me not to take things to heart, not that it happened often.

I’m really fortunate that my dad’s in the position he is.

Ivan Cleary tackled while playing for the Roosters. Source: News Corp Australia

It’s a unique and there were times I hated it when I was younger but as I matured, I stopped taking the opinions of others to heart and embraced it all.

I’m embracing this week too.

It’s a pretty cool week really but I think my mum Rebecca is the one who is copping it the most.

She’s the rock in our family.

I still live at home and I’m always heckling her that she’s on dad’s side.

She tries to stay neutral but it’ll be interesting to see which supporter base she ends up sitting with.

I can’t wait for the contest.

It’s funny not talking to Dad about my approach to the week. Usually we’ll break each other’s games down and talk tactics but we haven’t done that for obvious reasons this week.

That’s probably been the only difference in our weekly routine.

Nathan Cleary of the Panthers is tackled by Chris Lawrence of the Tigers. Source: Getty Images

It’s funny to think, it wasn’t that long ago I was at the park with dad with the kicking tee in hand but the roles were reversed.

I was on the fringe of first grade and my little brother Jett enjoys goal kicking too so we took some balls down to the oval and had shots at goal while dad collected the balls for us.

Dad reckons his groin can’t handle goal kicking anymore so he was happy to play the role of ball boy.

We haven’t done that in about three years.

These days we talk footy at the dinner table rather than out on the park.

But we’ll just put those chats on hold this week.

And again, Dad if you’re reading this, I’ll have my steak cooked medium rare.