'It was quite obvious': Ivan Cleary lifts lid on wild judiciary twist that freed superstar son

Ivan Cleary has no intentions to pursue a career as a lawyer when he steps away from rugby league, but he hopes the NRL judiciary will review their systems around pre-season bans.

The four-time premiership-winning coach represented his son at the judiciary last week as the star playmaker stared down a two-game ban for a shot on Tigers teen prodigy Heamasi Makasini.

Penrith opted to face the judiciary in an effort to downgrade the charge to a grade one, risking a potential three-game ban if their case was unsuccessful.

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However, his father and coach had great success as a one-off lawyer for the playmaker, who was cleared of any major wrongdoing and deemed free to play in round one

"It was a disappointing thing to have to go through," Ivan told reporters on Monday.

"It was quite a big thing for something that was pretty clearly innocent - well, not innocent but a grade one (incident). Either three weeks or no weeks.

"We navigated our way through that one so I am happy to have him back on board."

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The decision to go into the hearing without a lawyer took some by surprise, but Ivan did not need long to get his point across and have the sanction downgraded.

He admitted he only opted to be Nathan's representative as he did not feel the case required a lawyer to "show a couple of still shots and a video to prove it didn't happen".

"I represented him because it was quite obvious that it wasn't direct contact to the head. That is pretty much the only reason," he said.

"It was just one for that occasion ... maybe the NRL need to update their TVs or something (for the) the match review committee (to review footage)."

If the original sanction had been a one-week ban, the 55-year-old admitted his arrival as a legal representative may have never happened.

"If you ask the question of 'if he was only going to get one week would we have challenged it?' Well, maybe not," Ivan said.

"That is part of the system that needs addressing because ultimately it was the wrong call. That is why we challenged it.

"They are just trial games. There needs to be a little bit of understanding that players are still trying to find their timing.

"The frustrating thing was it was just the wrong call. I think a lot of people back off from going to the judiciary because they are not that confident with how that will work out.

"It worked out well (for us), it was a really good hearing and we got the right result. Everyone got the right result, not just us, so that is a win for the judiciary."

As for whether another appearance as a representative at the judiciary will be on the cards for Ivan this season, he had a simple answer.

"I'd rather be giving (legal duties) to someone else or not be in there at all, that would be better," he said.

With the case now behind him, Ivan's focus is on finishing off Penrith's preparations for their first round match against the reigning premiers, the Broncos to be played on Friday night.