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Cleary meeting a huge win for Panthers superfan
It’s Friday night, and you’re seated on the couch in your living room. Seems comfy, and yet your heart is beating out of your chest. The temperature is just how you like it and yet you’re sweating bullets. There’s nothing but ambient sound around you and yet you’re screaming at the top of your lungs. It’s a strange ritual you voluntarily subject yourself to on a weekly basis.
Why? Simple, the footy’s on.
Paul Camm, superfan
Guide Dogs Client Paul Camm is the epitome of a die-hard sports fan. He lives and breathes the NRL, riding the emotional highs and lows of his favourite team and players year after year. Paul isn’t just any sports fan, though, he’s a Penrith Panthers superfan.
Paul, who has Retinitis Pigmentosa, admits he wasn’t always a Panthers supporter, he once echoed the crow of the Sydney Roosters. It wasn’t until he met his now wife, Lisa, that he began to follow the team from the Blue Mountains. Lisa’s uncle, who was a Timekeeper for the Panthers, indoctrinated Paul into the team ethos and he’s continued to do the same with his own family ever since.
“My son, who’s a Panthers fan, brought his partner home to meet us one day and I said, ‘Who do you go for?’, and she said, ‘I’m a St George fan’, and six months later she’s wearing a Panthers jersey,” says Paul.
Image description: Paul stands with his yellow Guide Dog Cleary against a grey-paneled wall. Above them, there is an oversized Penrith Panthers logo with a fierce looking panther baring its teeth and claws. Underneath the logo in thick, black lettering reads ‘Rugby League Academy’. Paul is wearing his black Panthers jersey and black pants. Cleary is wearing a brown leather harness and a Panthers scarf with the team colours, red, yellow and green.
Paul, unsurprisingly, also wears his team colours proudly, but his devotion to the Panthers goes far beyond that. He has them tattooed on his shoulder and leg as well, adding a new tattoo for each premiership win, which is becoming an issue given the team’s recent run of success.
“I’ve just become a Penrith Panthers fanatic, they’re a bit like me, they’re family oriented and they just know how to get people together,” he says.
A star recruit joins the team
Paul is most definitely a people person, in fact, it seems as though Paul knows everyone. His Guide Dog Mobility Instructor Haylee remarked during a visit with Paul at his home in Griffith, New South Wales, that she has never met anyone who knew so many people in their local community.
“There’s a bit of a joke with my family that my wife won’t take me out to Bunnings because if we go out for a 5-minute trip, it always turns into a two or three-hour trip,” says Paul.
Paul’s larger-than-life personality endears him to everyone he meets, but he admits, until recently, his confidence in navigating his community due to his vision was very low, even anxiety-inducing. It wasn’t until he was paired with his Guide Dog that he started to feel confident getting around by himself again.
Image description: Paul stands with his yellow Guide Dog Cleary in front of the Panthers team charter bus. The bus is black with a white roof and has a large Penrith Panthers logo on the side including the fierce panther lunging forward, baring its teeth and claws. There is a green, yellow and red claw mark next to the panther. Beside the panther and claw mark is large, white letting that reads, ‘Panthers’. Paul wears his black Panthers jersey and black Panthers pants. Cleary wears a brown leather harness and Panthers scarf with red, yellow and green stripes.
“It’s completely different now, life is happy, I’ve found life again,” he says.
Although Paul was nervous about getting a Guide Dog, he says his heart melted as soon as he laid eyes on his new companion. Her name? Cleary, named after the Panther’s father-son duo of Ivan and Nathan Cleary.
“I used to be quite an anxious bloke, but she’s taken it out of me, she just takes it away,” says Paul.
Even trips to the football are now a much more enjoyable experience for Paul, and whether Cleary’s aware of it or not, she is also now a Panthers fan, sporting a scarf with the team’s colours wherever she goes.
Getting the call up
It was Guide Dog Mobility Instructor Haylee who came up with the idea of naming Cleary, and thanks to her thoughtfulness, Paul received a surprise that would make every Panthers fan green with envy.
“Haylee rang me and said, ‘I’ve got some exciting news. Do you still want to meet the Clearys?’ I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’. I couldn’t believe it, it was like winning the lotto,” he says.
Image description: Paul stands to the left of Panthers coach Ivan Cleary with his yellow Guide Dog Cleary and Guide Dog Mobility Instructor Haylee. Paul’s wife, Lisa stands to the right of Ivan Cleary. The group stands in a hallway in the Panthers building with grey panelled walls. Ivan Cleary has his arms around Paul and Lisa and wears a black Panthers shirt and pants. Paul wears his black Panthers jersey and pants. Lisa wears a black Panthers windbreaker jacket and black jeans. Haylee wears a black Guide Dogs jacket and blue jeans. Guide Dog Cleary wears a brown leather harness and Panthers scarf with red, yellow and green stripes.
Paul, the humble person that he is, was nearly brought to tears by Haylee’s gesture. He says she is more than a trainer to him and considers her a true friend.
“She is just a beautiful person. I can’t speak any more highly of her, and it’s the most awesome feeling you could ever have when you know someone is in your corner,” he says.
Clearys face off
The surprises didn’t end there for Paul because when he and his wife Lisa made the trip to visit the Clearys, they were surprised with a tour of the entire Panthers training facility including the film room, state-of-the-art gym, and ever-growing trophy room.
Paul says he was impressed by the sheer scale of the facility, noting the large murals celebrating the team’s recent Grand Finals wins throughout the hallway.
He even ran into a few of the Panthers players including Scott Sorensen and Izack Tago, who were more than eager to play with Cleary.
Image description: Paul stands with his yellow Guide Dog Cleary in between Panthers players Izack Tago and Scott Sorensen in the hallway of the Panthers building. Both players have their arms around Paul and are smiling. Paul wears his black Panthers jersey and black Panthers pants, and Guide Dog Cleary wears her brown leather harness and Panthers scarf. Izack wears a black Panthers jersey and black Panthers shorts. Scott wears a sleeveless black Panthers jersey and black Panthers shorts.
“I took the harness off her and she went straight up to Scotty Sorensen, and she just ran around his legs, and she went crazy for him, he loved her,” says Paul.
It was in that moment another familiar face approached Paul – the one and only Ivan Cleary. Paul was in awe of Ivan, who proved to be a very warm and genuine character, and not at all phased by meeting his furry counterpart.
Image description: Paul stands with his yellow Guide Dog Cleary, to the left of Panthers Coach Ivan Cleary, in a hallway in the Panthers building with grey paneling on the walls and a black floor. Ivan Cleary has his arm around Paul and is wearing a black Panthers shirt with black Panthers pants. He is also carrying a black backpack. Paul is wearing his black Panthers jersey and black Panthers pants. Guide Dog Cleary is wearing a brown leather harness and her Panthers scarf with red, yellow and green stripes.
“He wasn’t rushing through, he actually wanted to spend some time with me and talk to me about everything, and I thought that was really great. He’s a pretty cool customer,” says Paul.
For a team that’s won it all the last few years, they can count themselves lucky to have such devoted fans like Paul. And for Paul, the man who seems to know everyone, he can now add a few Penrith Panthers to that list. The only thing he’d love more is another premiership added to the trophy cabinet.
