Nathan Cleary and Mary Fowler are Australian sporting superstars on the field and a power couple off. <\/p>\n
And despite being kept apart as they play at the highest levels of their individual codes on opposite sides of the world, the NRL legend-in-the-making and Matildas hero couldn\u2019t be happier after recently spending rare time together.<\/p>\n
They have been together since mid-2023 and have made the relationship work despite the tyranny of distance.<\/p>\n
Cleary, 28, stayed in the UK after playing for the Kangaroos in the rugby league Ashes series late last year while Fowler, 22, was undergoing rehab for an ACL injury with her English Women\u2019s Super League club Manchester City.<\/p>\n
And it was the first time they actually got to spend proper time together away from the intense Sydney spotlight. <\/p>\n
\u201cI was based in Manchester (while with the Kangaroos) because that\u2019s where Mary is. She was training at the time and I didn\u2019t want to leave too often,\u201d Cleary told NewsWire.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really nice to spend an extended period of time with Mary.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the nicest thing about it is that it brought a lot of peace which is needed in the off-season.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said spending time with Fowler in the UK where he was less well known was a bonus, the extended break \u2013 which included side trips to the US, Europe and New Zealand \u2013 helped ready him for the challenges of 2026. <\/p>\n
\u201cI got over to America, did a little bit of Europe and got to go to Queenstown, where we went hiking when we got back,\u201d Cleary said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was probably the first time I had the chance to reflect on where I\u2019m at, where I\u2019ve come from and where I want to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy the end of it, I was keen to get back into training and my routine. I felt that drive return and the joy to want to come back and get ready for the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Super couple\u2019s 2026 career goals<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to focus on Cleary\u2019s relationship with Fowler, but that wouldn\u2019t do either of their careers the justice they deserve \u2013 or their ambitions for 2026.<\/p>\n
Cleary is looking to avenge last year\u2019s heartbreak at failing to help the Penrith Panthers win a fifth consecutive NRL premiership, while Fowler is aiming to return from injury in time for a major event on home soil.<\/p>\n
Fowler continues to recover from the ACL tear she suffered last year, with the Matildas superstar hoping to return at the women\u2019s Asian Cup that begins in Australia in March.<\/p>\n
Cleary said it \u201cwasn\u2019t ideal\u201d when told that he has a game in Bathurst on March 14 when the Matildas will likely play in Sydney if they top their group, but he was just excited to see Fowler returning to full fitness.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s going really well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith such a long rehab, you don\u2019t want to rush it when it gets to the end. She\u2019s done her due diligence and she\u2019s not far off, so I\u2019m excited for her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fowler\u2019s goal will be to play and win the tournament, but it\u2019s not as easy to get a read on what Cleary wants to achieve in 2026.<\/p>\n
10 years of Cleary magic<\/p>\n
Cleary, who marks 10 years in the NRL this year, has crammed more into his footy than anyone could have imagined when he made his debut<\/p>\n
Since then, he\u2019s won four premierships, a World Cup, several State of Origin series, has matured as a man \u2013 and began his relationship with Fowler. <\/p>\n
When you consider all the wild and wacky things that have happened over the past decade, it\u2019s easy to gloss over the fact that Cleary made his NRL debut way back in 2016 and has gone on to forge one of the greatest NRL careers of all time.<\/p>\n
Donald Trump won two elections in that period, the world was rocked by the coronavirus, the Chicago Cubs ended their historic drought to win the World Series and Neighbours was axed, renewed and then axed again. <\/p>\n
Cleary entered the league as a teenager with plenty of potential who was forced to make a mountain of tackles on debut against the Melbourne Storm on June 4.<\/p>\n
Cleary isn\u2019t one to reflect on things while they\u2019re still happening, but an old interview he did showed him how far he\u2019d come and how he could see his younger brother Jett in his old self. <\/p>\n
He\u2019s back at training with the new season just a few weeks away, with Cleary ready to kick off the second decade of what\u2019s already been an all-time career. <\/p>\n
Theatre of Dreams <\/p>\n
Cleary is a long-time Manchester United fan, with the legendary English Premier League side\u2019s home ground Old Trafford often referred to as the Theatre of Dreams.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s somewhat fitting that a replay of Fox League\u2019s Fox Theatre 2021 grand final review reminded the Panthers halfback just how far he\u2019d come on and off the field. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s honestly crazy to think that it\u2019s been 10 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not too big on reflecting while I\u2019m in it, but this off-season has given me the time to reflect on where I\u2019ve come from but also where I can get better and how I can improve.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think back to 10 years when I first started playing, and I was a totally different player. I was very shy and within myself. <\/p>\n
\u201cGradually, as I\u2019ve gotten older, those traits have stayed, but I\u2019ve added a bow to it each year and tried to get better, especially as a leader where I\u2019ve tried to become more vocal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just the other day that I was watching a replay from after we\u2019d won the \u201921 grand final. It was that thing (Fox Theatre) where you sit down and you watch the game back.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way I spoke in that, it probably doesn\u2019t seem that different to other people, but it did seem different to me. I actually saw a lot of my younger brother Jett in how I was speaking, which was weird.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows that I\u2019ve developed as a person, particularly over these last two or three years where I\u2019ve matured into the person I want to be. There\u2019s still a long way to go, but off the field I\u2019ve certainly matured and will continue to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cleary\u2019s ambition for 2026 \u2013 redemption<\/p>\n
For a man who\u2019s done so much, the upcoming season still offers a lot with Penrith keen to bounce back after they had their four-year premiership run snapped, while Cleary also has a World Cup and State of Origin redemption on the horizon. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never really been a massive goal-setter in terms of writing it down and checking them off,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more about the process every day and trying to get that right. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve come back into pre-season and I feel really good. I feel hungry for what\u2019s ahead. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are things that I know that I want to be a part of and get done, but it\u2019s about setting the foundation first with a strong pre-season.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a scary thought for his rivals because unlike Trump, Cleary has at least four more years of ruling the world as the best footy player of his generation.<\/p>\n
Food for thought <\/p>\n
Before his chat with the NewsWire, Cleary spent time with local fans and took photos with them following a gruelling training session in the Penrith heat.<\/p>\n
That willingness to give back to the community has been there from the start for a man who is proud of his upbringing and has a massive mural up high on a building next to Kingswood station. <\/p>\n
Cleary and other athletes don\u2019t do charity work for the attention, but it was great to see his efforts brought to light late last year when he was spotted helping out the Atherton and Leigh Foodbank in the UK. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just a good reminder that we\u2019re in such a privileged position, and it\u2019s sometimes easy to forget that,\u201d he said, with Cleary in Manchester at the time following the 3-0 Ashes victory with the Kangaroos.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are obviously a lot of people doing it tougher, so any time you can give back, I always make sure I try to do what I can.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat one in the UK happened in a unique way. I was eating lunch by myself in a restaurant, and then a guy came up to me and asked for a photo.<\/p>\n
\u201cA bit later, he said that he was doing volunteer work and asked if I wanted to come down, and I said \u2018yes\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many people who aren\u2019t in the public eye that are doing this volunteer work who go unnoticed and don\u2019t get the plaudits they deserve.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s good to lend a helping hand whenever you can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nathan Cleary and Mary Fowler are Australian sporting superstars on the field and a power couple off. And…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[6074,3486,2095,64,63,689,232751,81870,4428,230497,10881,205480,5158,17057,4565,145629,2490,232758,58001,232747,9004,2057,2456,1379,104495,232748,763,232757,2105,232753,36653,232752,31550,795,6255,28533,44964,12412,4466,60692,1203,761,762,673,1736,232762,2041,2067,3583,158,677,232761,4598,232755,227296,701,73321,232746,3637,159,232760,1183,18780,665,232756,85,232754,670,232759,3586,2614,232749,232750,7891],"class_list":["post-450037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-africa","tag-albert-perez","tag-america","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-sporting-superstars","tag-bathurst","tag-brisbane-broncos","tag-career-goals","tag-charity","tag-charity-work","tag-chicago-cubs","tag-city-of-manchester","tag-cronulla-sharks","tag-debut-way","tag-donald-trump","tag-drive-return","tag-due-diligence","tag-eastern-cape","tag-english-premier-league","tag-europe","tag-facebook","tag-features","tag-footy-player","tag-four-year-premiership-run","tag-fox-league","tag-fox-theatre-inc","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gruelling-training-session","tag-helping-hand","tag-high-level-on-field-commitments","tag-home-soil","tag-inc","tag-manchester-united-football-club","tag-mary-fowler","tag-matildas","tag-matt-king","tag-melbourne-storm","tag-milestones","tag-nathan-cleary","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-south-wales","tag-new-zealand","tag-nicest-thing","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-northern-europe","tag-nrl","tag-oceania","tag-opposite-sides","tag-penrith-panthers","tag-people-doing","tag-power-couple","tag-queensland","tag-queenstown","tag-relationship-work","tag-relationships","tag-rugby-league","tag-side-trips","tag-south-africa","tag-southern-africa","tag-spending-time","tag-sporting-power-couple","tag-sports","tag-super-couple","tag-sydney","tag-theatre-of-dreams","tag-united-kingdom","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-volunteer-work","tag-world-due","tag-world-series"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}