- Brian To’o says Nathan Cleary and Mary Fowler are engaged
- The Panthers star was interviewed after Saturday’s game.
Penrith Panthers cult hero Brian To’o has raised eyebrows again with a cheeky comment about teammate Nathan Cleary’s affair with Mary Fowler.
The NRL player and the Matildas footballer have been together since last year, and To’o has joked about the Australian golden couple taking their relationship to the next level on several occasions.
While being interviewed after the Panthers’ 18-12 win over the Titans, the prolific try-scorer was back to his old tricks.
Fox Sports asked To’o why Panthers fans were cheering so loudly.
Cleary, who has been recovering from injury, was in attendance and host Yvonne Sampson wondered if the superstar scrum-half had angered the crowd.
To’o joked that fans were cheering for Cleary and his girlfriend Fowler, who are now “engaged.”
—Nathan? Yeah, he’s here with Mary —To’o joked.
‘They’re chilling out and everyone’s going crazy. They’re here for Nathan and Mary, so congratulations to them, I think they got engaged.
“Congratulations to them.”
Brian To’o made a cheeky comment to the media about teammate Nathan Cleary and Mary Fowler’s romance on Saturday.
The NRL player and Matildas footballer have been going strong since last year.
Fowler returned to Australia last month following the Matildas’ disappointing campaign at the Paris Olympics, where the Aussies failed to reach the knockout rounds despite a valiant performance against the United States in their final state pool match.
Mary and Nathan began dating late last year and their relationship was first reported by Daily Mail Australia.
Secured in second place, the Panthers should have Nathan Cleary back from his shoulder injury to face the Sydney Roosters in their qualifying final at Penrith Park, likely to be played on Friday night.
“(Cleary) has some hurdles to overcome, but we’re hopeful,” coach Ivan Cleary said.
Cleary has been out with an injury but should be back for the game against the Roosters.
But Penrith cannot rely solely on the star scrum-half to fix the problems that have been evident during his absence, and the team again looked worn and error-prone on Saturday night.
Penrith never felt comfortable against the 14th-placed Titans, committing 15 errors and trailing 6-4 at half-time thanks to a surprisingly strong first half from the visitors.
But it would be a brave pundit to rule out the three reigning champions, especially now that they will have to host the Roosters, who have not beaten Penrith since 2019.
Coach Cleary remains calm despite shaky end to regular season.
“It didn’t look like we wanted, but the main thing was to win the game and that’s what we did,” he said.
“I honestly think our defense has gotten better over the last month. What we didn’t have tonight was an offense to complement it. If we can get those two things together, we’ll be tough to beat.”
