London: For every photo where he is next to his father and the NRL premiership trophy, there is something missing for Nathan Cleary.
It’s something Isaah Yeo has. Something Dylan Edwards has. Jarome Luai also has it. It’s something most of his close friends at Penrith have that Cleary hasn’t experienced.
It’s the joy of fatherhood. The priceless feeling his teammates cherish. Celebrating life’s milestones alongside their little ones.
The hard part for Cleary is that he knows he has found the woman he wants to start a family with – his partner Mary Fowler.
On the Keegan and Company podcast, Fowler recently spoke about her desire to raise a family with Nathan. She even raised the prospect of adopting some children in the dream of raising them alongside their own kids on land with animals and a garden.
But the reality of living out their sporting dreams on opposite sides of the globe for most of every year means that dream remains on hold.
Nathan Cleary watches Mary Fowler starring for the Matildas.Credit: Paramount +
“Yeah, it does [cross my mind],” Cleary said of the prospect of starting a family in the lead-up to the Ashes series opener in London on Saturday.
“Like, that’s probably my biggest goal in life – to one day be a father. But it’s just probably not meant to be at the moment, and there are still things that have to fall into place.
“We’re both in the middle of our sporting journeys and enjoying that. When the day comes, I would absolutely love that. But yeah, it’s just not right now.”
In the streets of London, pictures of Nathan Cleary alongside Englishman Herbie Farnworth are on bus stops.
Marry Fowler and Nathan Cleary.Credit: Instagram
It’s the poster boy of Australian rugby league in a city that has somewhat lost touch with rugby league.
Over here, though, he’s Mary’s boyfriend.
“Someone said that to me today as well,” Cleary says as he bursts into laughter.
“They said: ‘oh, nice to meet you, but I just want to let you know, I love your girlfriend more’. And I was like ‘yeah, same’.
Nathan Cleary at Kangaroos training.Credit: NRL Photos
While his father Ivan, mother Bec and brother Jett are all flying to England to watch him play for Australia, Fowler, who is based in Manchester, won’t be at the game at Wembley on Saturday.
They will, however, reunite when the Kangaroos head north for the final two games of the series in Liverpool and Leeds.
Cleary is uncomfortable in the spotlight. You won’t find him doing any photo shoots or interviews alongside Fowler, and that’s the way they both want it.
There’s a shift in his demeanour as he transitions from talking about breaking down defences to breaking down his relationship.
‘They said: “Oh, nice to meet you, but I just want to let you know, I love your girlfriend more”.’
Nathan Cleary on Mary Fowler’s fame in England.
“Annoying at times”, is how he describes the attention on his romance.
“The footy stuff you just know that’s all part of it, but the private life stuff, that was probably a bit harder to adjust to. But Mary and I both spoke about it, that we didn’t want it to affect the way we live our lives.
“A lot of those things are out of your control, so it’s about controlling things that are in our control and not letting it drain our energy and just taking it in our stride. I think both of us are naturally quite private and introverted. We’re also doing our own different things in sport, and we don’t want to become just a big deal – us as a couple.”
Being back in England, Cleary is reminded by people of a long-standing rumour linking him to the Super League as a means of being closer to Fowler.
Mary Fowler has enjoyed a stellar start to her career.Credit: Getty Images
“Every three months that article comes out,” he says.
But in the not-too-distant future, Cleary will have a huge decision to make. He is off contract with the Penrith Panthers at the end of 2027.
That means, by this time next year, he will be preparing to enter NRL free agency. It’s not a certainty that he will extend his stay with the club he led to four-straight premierships.
“I’ve loved my time in Penrith, and it’s home to me,” he said.
Ivan and Nathan Cleary steered Penrith to four consecutive premierships. Credit: Getty Images
“I’m quite open to things in the future. Maybe having something different, but for the time being, yeah, I can’t really see it happening.
“I’ve said it a few times, like I’m open to things, and the last thing I want when I get to the end of my career is to have regrets. So yeah, we’ll see what happens.”
With the PNG Chiefs set to enter the NRL in 2028, an almighty challenge could present itself to both Cleary and his father – whose coaching contract with Penrith expires at the same time as his son.
At the moment, however, that isn’t on his radar despite the opportunity to earn a lucrative tax-free contract.
“I’m not too sure,” he says about the possibility of linking with the Chiefs in the homeland of Fowler’s mother.
“It’s still such a long way away, and you want to see, you know, I would love to see PNG do well, but to me, it just seems like there’s so much to go before actually getting it off the ground and seeing what it’s going to look like.”
Few people would begrudge Cleary walking away from Penrith in pursuit of another challenge.
He’s done what no player in 60-odd years has done – leading a team to four titles in a row.
However, he insists the end of the streak this year hasn’t diluted his passion.
“I don’t ever feel like there’s a destination of ‘oh you’ve done it’ – you know what I mean?” Cleary says.
“I think the streak was probably more [something] that everyone else looked into. Honestly, at times, it didn’t feel like we were on a streak. We were just trying to get the next one and trying to improve. So it wasn’t until we actually lost and had a few discussions with the boys that we were able to look back and be like ‘wow, we’ve won the last four years, which is pretty crazy to think about’.
“It doesn’t really matter where I am, there’s a constant challenge of trying to improve and get better. And I honestly see that each and every day that sort of challenge. Honestly, I don’t know what the future holds for me, but Penrith’s home for me and I still feel like there’s a lot to do.”
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