Cash-rich UK rugby clubs could be sharpening their pencils to sign NRL superstar Nathan Cleary, with one NRL great fearing he will defect to be closer to Mary Fowler.
Mary and Nathan began their relationship in late 2023, as exclusively revealed by Daily Mail Australia.
They have since become Australia’s leading sporting duo, garnering thousands of responses from football and rugby league fans through their social media posts.
This sparked rumors that Cleary could join the English Super League in 2025 to be closer to her teammate who plays for Manchester City in the Women’s Super League, but the Panthers quickly dismissed these claims.
However, Penrith Panthers coach Ivan Cleary recently revealed that his son will put the surgery on hold so he can fly to the UK and spend time with Fowler.
“He’s going abroad to see Mary and then he’ll finish it,” Ivan said at the club’s awards night on Tuesday.
This has once again sparked rumors suggesting Cleary could join the UK Super League after claiming a record four consecutive NRL premierships with the Panthers.
Cleary travels to the UK during the NRL off-season to visit his girlfriend Mary Fowler.
Fowler could not be in the NRL grand final but sent his message of support from the Manchester City warehouses
Either way, NRL and TV great Matty Johns doesn’t like the idea of Cleary turning up in UK rugby club shops looking to poach him.
“My only fear with Nathan is that going to England will put him in the spotlight or basically be right in the backyard of these big French and European rugby clubs,” Johns said on his SEN show Morning Glory with Matty Johns on Friday. . .
‘And there would be a temptation (to poach him). “Some of them (rugby clubs) would probably look to make an offer sooner rather than later, that’s the only thing I would worry about.”
Johns has first-hand experience, watching in the early 2000s as English rugby clubs desperately tried to sign his brother Andrew.
“There have been times in our game where our players have had a great reputation internationally, such as in European rugby, and Andrew (Johns) was one of them,” Johns said.
“There was always a temptation to lure Andrew into rugby to take on Jonny Wilkinson.”
NRL legend Matty Johns has warned that UK rugby clubs could take advantage of Nathan Cleary’s visit to England.
Former Wallaby Peter Fitzsimons has urged rugby clubs to try to sign Cleary while he is in the UK visiting Mary Fowler.
Meanwhile, former Wallaby and Fairfax columnist Peter FitzSimons is again pushing for UK rugby clubs to seize the opportunity and sign Cleary while he is under their noses.
“The best thing might be if we in rugby union could get Nathan Cleary off our backs for about three years, which could give him a taste of a genuine world stage, and put him on the London/Paris/Buenos Aires circuit rather than Cronulla/Campbelltown/Canberra, as beautiful as those towns are,” he wrote in his SMH column.
“That would also make it easier to see his teammate Mary Fowler and give him a break from the brutal physical toll of the league.
‘Get it? The NRL competition is freed up for others to win which is a nice change, the Wallabies could suddenly be competitive again and Cleary can show his wares away from the parish bomb. What do you not like?
In a bid to soften Cleary’s UK rumours, Penrith Panthers boss Brian Fletcher has told fans there should be a counter-movement to bring Mary back to Australia.
“Last year on the radio I said if we win in 2023, we will definitely win in 2024 and 25,” Fletcher said. ‘So don’t be afraid of next year. We also have 26 and 27 left.
‘And the reason I say that is because Ivan Cleary and Nathan Cleary are signed until the end of ’27.
“It is my job and that of chief football officer Matt Cameron to extend this as much as we can.
“Matt’s job is also to bring Mary back to Australia.”
Fowler’s supporters have responded to suggestions that he should move on for the sake of Cleary’s career in a series of mocking online posts.
“It’s cool that her boyfriend has a hobby,” one follower cheekily posted.
Another said: ‘Is that good? I wouldn’t know. I’ve never really watched men’s sports. It’s just not that exciting.
A third claimed: “That’s pretty good for a man.” Mary must be proud of him.
As for the man himself, Cleary has never rejected rumors linking him to the UK Super League and in an interview earlier this year said he would be open to it later in his career.
‘I’m not against (a move in the Super League). “I have a pretty open mind to that kind of thing,” he said before the World Cup Challenge match.
‘I think just being able to experience different cultures and different experiences is something I enjoy doing. I’m not closed to that idea.
