{"id":948811,"date":"2026-11-01T14:24:15","date_gmt":"2026-11-01T14:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/948811\/"},"modified":"2026-11-01T14:24:15","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T14:24:15","slug":"wildcard-twist-in-nathan-cleary-future-saga-as-shock-nrl-club-enter-race-after-sam-walker-fallout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/948811\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Wildcard\u2019 twist in Nathan Cleary future saga as shock NRL club enter race after Sam Walker fallout"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Roosters have reportedly emerged as a shock potential destination for NRL superstar Nathan Cleary.<\/p>\n

The 28-year-old officially became a free agent on Sunday, with his Panthers contract up at the end of the 2027 season.<\/p>\n

Be the first to know when news breaks. Download our new app<\/a><\/p>\n

And while Penrith are hopeful he will remain at the club, The Sydney Morning Herald<\/a> understands the Roosters are now a \u201cwildcard\u201d destination for him.<\/p>\n

Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | Get Kayo now ><\/a><\/p>\n

The report claims Sydney are set \u201cto have a serious crack\u201d at striking a deal with the Origin star after the shock breakdown in negotiations with Sam Walker<\/a> \u201copened the door\u201d to a deal.<\/p>\n

Despite having one season left on his contract, the Roosters are said to have told Walker he is free to leave.<\/p>\n

The Roosters are looking to build on last month\u2019s premiership triumph after they beat the Knights by one point in a thrilling NRL Grand Final.<\/p>\n

Cleary could fill the void left by Walker\u2019s impending exit, although signing for the Roosters remains a far-fetched prospect.<\/p>\n

The PNG Chiefs have also shown an interest in Cleary \u2014 who is continuing to recover from a compound fracture and dislocation of his left ankle, and broken bone in his right foot.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs are expected to offer Cleary somewhere in the region of $1.7 million per year tax-free.<\/p>\n

However, the Panthers remain in pole position to retain the league\u2019s most valuable commodity.<\/p>\n

Cleary recently penned a tribute to his girlfriend, Matildas star Mary Fowler, who announced her withdrawal from two friendly matches against Germany and Haiti due to \u201cpersonal\u201d reasons.<\/p>\n

It was later confirmed she flew back to Sydney to care for her boyfriend.<\/p>\n

\"NRL<\/p>\n

\u201cI simply do not have enough space in this caption for the amount of nice adjectives I would use to describe (Mary Fowler) but this woman is the absolute best!!!\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t thank you enough for flying to the other side of the world to look after me and be by my side during this past week of recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a very lucky man and so-so grateful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fowler commented on the post, saying it was \u201ceasy to look after someone when they\u2019re a BIG cutie patootie\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeeling very blessed we got this time together,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m a very lucky girl.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as \u2018Wildcard\u2019 twist in Nathan Cleary future saga as shock NRL club enter race after Sam Walker fallout<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Roosters have reportedly emerged as a shock potential destination for NRL superstar Nathan Cleary. The 28-year-old officially…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":948812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[516217,464799,516201,516209,362373,516229,516214,516213,398740,516215,516220,379182,516211,516206,516232,386198,516205,516230,399785,64,63,516210,50921,516207,464615,516226,516222,407939,516233,516225,380909,414100,475317,516231,516200,62756,38311,67651,28533,516227,436146,1203,516202,761,762,22137,44,516228,158,516221,386444,516199,459763,382196,16284,16280,3173,9489,9120,4478,516203,516224,516204,85,8825,670,516219,376810,379067,381352,382194,382205,378193,215379,382541,101147,280721,516216,383216,5991,295305,377064,388083,174850,516223,461607,146597,465322,54798,516212,407318,378871,384212,96398,516218,9829,159412,516208],"class_list":["post-948811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-s-impending-exit","tag-s-nrl-future","tag-s-premiership-triumph","tag-personal-reasons-it","tag-1-7-million","tag-a-wildcard-destination","tag-a-big-cutie-patootie","tag-a-compound-fracture-and-dislocation","tag-a-deal","tag-a-deal-despite","tag-a-far-fetched-prospect-the-png-chiefs","tag-a-free-agent","tag-a-serious-crack","tag-a-shock-potential-destination","tag-a-thrilling-nrl-grand-final-cleary","tag-a-tribute","tag-a-very-lucky-girl","tag-a-very-lucky-man","tag-an-interest","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-broken-bone","tag-cleary","tag-direct-implications","tag-enough-space","tag-fowler","tag-germany-and-haiti","tag-her-boyfriend","tag-her-withdrawal","tag-him-watch","tag-his-contract","tag-his-girlfriend","tag-his-left-ankle","tag-his-panthers-contract","tag-his-right-foot-the-chiefs","tag-kayo","tag-kayo-sports","tag-last-month","tag-mary-fowler","tag-matildas-star-mary-fowler","tag-my-side","tag-nathan-cleary","tag-nathan-cleary-future-saga","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-negotiations","tag-news","tag-nice-adjectives","tag-nrl","tag-nrl-superstar-nathan-cleary","tag-one-point","tag-one-season","tag-our-new-appand","tag-overseas-live","tag-penrith","tag-pole-position","tag-race","tag-recovery","tag-roosters","tag-sam-walker","tag-sam-walker-fallout","tag-shock-nathan-cleary","tag-shock-nrl-club","tag-sports","tag-sunday","tag-sydney","tag-the-2027-season-be","tag-the-28-year-old","tag-the-amount","tag-the-best","tag-the-biggest-aussie-sports","tag-the-club","tag-the-door","tag-the-end","tag-the-first","tag-the-knights","tag-the-league","tag-the-origin-star","tag-the-other-side","tag-the-panthers","tag-the-post","tag-the-region","tag-the-report","tag-the-roosters","tag-the-shock-breakdown","tag-the-stunning-development","tag-the-sydney-morning-herald","tag-the-void","tag-the-world","tag-this-caption","tag-this-past-week","tag-this-time","tag-this-woman","tag-twist","tag-two-friendly-matches","tag-walker","tag-wildcard","tag-year-tax-free-however"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948811","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=948811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/948811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/948812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=948811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=948811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=948811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}