Mary Fowler dream shattered as Panthers handed huge news about Nathan Cleary
Mary Fowler's dream about starting a big family has been dealt a blow, with reports her boyfriend Nathan Cleary has no interest in quitting the NRL to move overseas. The Penrith Panthers star has consistently been linked with a move to play in Europe to be closer to the Matildas fan favourite, who is based in England and plays for Manchester City.
Rumours have been rife for months that Cleary might switch to the English Super League in the near future to be closer to Fowler. And Wallabies legend Tim Horan suggested Cleary was considering a switch to rugby union after hearing whispers that the four-time premiership winner was "quite keen" to leave the NRL for the 15-man game.
Another former Wallaby, Morgan Turinui, appeared to add credence to the story by insisting "there is interest on both sides". But veteran sports journalist Andrew Webster revealed on his 'Off the Record' Podcast with Phil 'Buzz' Rothfield, that Cleary's father and coach Ivan, plus manager George Mimis, both dismissed the reports as 'bulls**t'.
"I spoke to George Mimis (Cleary's manager) and Ivan Cleary and Ivan told me he'd spoken to Nathan and they both said it's absolute bulls**t," Webster declared. "Nathan had said to Ivan 'there's nothing in it' and Ivan said to me he's been getting text messages and calls about this sort of stuff around Nathan leaving for about six months.
"I spoke to Mimis and he says he hasn't had a discussion with any rugby union club, anywhere in the world." Rothfield said he also found the speculation around Cleary's future ridiculous, amid warnings about interest from overseas rugby clubs and suggestions Fowler wanted Cleary to be closer to her in England.
"People that are saying that clearly have no idea what Nathan Cleary is about," Webster continued. "They clearly don't understand what a competitor he is and how professional he is. He's not about to go and cash a cheque in French rugby, which is basically a part-time comp in comparison to rugby league.
"Everyone thinks that he's going to move over and be closer to Mary Fowler so he's been linked to the English Super League, to Perth, now to French rugby or European rugby. It's all bulls**t. That said though, if I'm (Rugby Australia CEO) Phil Waugh I'm having a crack to get him. He'd be the perfect convert."
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The latest development around Cleary would appear to put Fowler's dreams of starting a family firmly on the backburner. Fowler and Cleary both have three siblings each and speaking on the 'Keegan and Company' podcast with former NRL player Keegan Hipgrave this week, the Matildas star said she has a burning desire to start "a big family" of her own one day.
'The only dream I have at the moment is to be a mum and have heaps of kids and be in a space where they can play outside a lot," she said. "We can do the gardening and feed the animals together and to be able to run wild in the place; be in the mud. If I had the set-up for that, it would be a dream.
'I would love to have two or three kids of my own and then adopt. I don't know how many I would adopt, it's a long process. But in an ideal world I would like to adopt siblings. I would bring all of them into the home.
'The dream would definitely have a lot of outdoor space because I would love to have lots of animals... I really want to have a whole range of animals. It's very random and I'm trying to convince Nath that it would be a good idea. I really want to get a cow, some little goats, maybe a pig, some geese and I also really want to get a Great Dane.'
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