Cleary went onto play 205 games —second only to Dave Starbuck in Coburg history —and kick 317 goals. He was a member of the 1979 premiership side and losing 1980 side. He coached the club between 1984 and 1992 (captain coach between 1984 and 1987,upon which he retired as a player),before leading them to back-to-back premierships in 1988–89.
In the 1986 VFA grand final against Williamstown,he was sensationally ordered off,only to be found not guilty at the tribunal. He coached the VFA representative side on five occasions without losing a game. He was one of the most well-known players in the VFA in his era,and was instantly recognisable from the thick beard he wore throughout his career.[5]
Cleary lost the seat to Labor at the 1996 federal election. Wills had undergone a redistribution,by adding territory to the division,which weakened Cleary's notional position against Labor. Cleary's vote of 22.7% was a decrease of 6.7% from the 29.4% he polled in 1993,on different boundaries.[8]
While advocating an Australian Republic,he broke with the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) over disagreement about how the President of Australia should be chosen,forming a group called "Real Republic",which advocated direct election of the President as opposed to the model advocated by Malcolm Turnbull of the ARM,under which the President would be chosen by a joint sitting of the Parliament,and which was the model proposed in the 1999 referendum.[9]
Post-parliament
Cleary was a part of the ABC’s telecast of VFA/VFL football as a match-day commentator from 1987 until the ABC lost the rights in 2014,juggling coaching and commentary duties for the first five seasons. He conducted interviews and acted as a boundary rider for the match of the day,writes a weekly column for the football magazine Inside Football,and regularly appears in the media on a range of social and political issues. He has campaigned to stop male violence against women since his sister was murdered by her former partner in 1987. He is a freelance journalist and public speaker and is the author of three books:Cleary Independent,Just Another Little Murder,and Getting Away with Murder.
In his 2005 book Getting Away with Murder,Cleary accused barrister Dyson Hore-Lacy of helping a man who killed his own wife to manufacture a provocation defence. In 2010,Hore-Lacy sued Cleary for defamation,won the case,and was awarded $630,000 in damages.[11]
↑"The Amateur Footballer Week 6 1972"(PDF). Victorian Amateur Football Association. 20 May 1972. p.5. Archived from the original(PDF) on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2024. Coburg: Seath 3, Cleary 2, Willoughby, Handley, King, Gardner.
↑"The Amateur Footballer Week 5 1973"(PDF). Victorian Amateur Football Association. 12 May 1973. p.16. Archived from the original(PDF) on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2024. COBURG 1 Cleary, P. R.
↑"Hall of Fame". Coburg Football Club. Archived from the original on 27 September 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
↑Dennis Jose (17 August 1985). "Bottom pay, but top play". The Age. Melbourne, VIC. p.39.
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