Latest news with #Penrith
Daily Mail
13 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Mary Fowler reveals baby plans with NRL player Nathan Cleary - as Matildas star looks toward retirement
She's one of Australia's most beloved football stars, but Mary Fowler is already dreaming of trading stadiums for stables. The Matildas forward, 22, has revealed her long-term plans with NRL beau Nathan Cleary - and they include babies, adoption, and a life surrounded by animals on a rural property. Currently recovering from an ACL injury in England, Fowler gave fans an intimate look into her hopes for the future and after retiring from sport during a candid appearance on the Keegan and Company podcast. Despite being more than 17,000km away from home - and with no plans to play in Australia again 'any time soon, if ever' - Fowler says she's already looking ahead to a quieter life with the Penrith Panthers halfback. 'I really want to have a big family,' she said. '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.' Not content with just a picket fence and a swing set, Mary is thinking big - envisioning a home where her future children can get their hands dirty in the veggie patch, feed farm animals, and 'run wild in the mud.' 'If I had the set-up for that, it would be a dream,' she added. Mary, who hails from Cairns and is one of five siblings herself - Caoimhin, Seamus, Ciara and Louise - said she sees a similar-sized family in her own future. 'I would love to have two or three kids of my own and then adopt,' she revealed. '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.' Nathan, 26, is the eldest of four children in the Cleary clan, which includes sisters Indiana and Milaya, and younger brother Jett. But it's not just kids the sports golden couple are planning on welcoming into their future home. Fowler also wants a fully-fledged animal sanctuary – complete with a cow, goats, geese, a pig, and a towering Great Dane. 'I really want to have a whole range of animals,' she said, laughing. 'It's very random and I'm trying to convince Nath that it would be a good idea.' While her vision may seem like a far cry from the world of elite sport and international fame, Fowler insists it's the grounded, wholesome life she's always imagined. 'I'm not as bothered about what the house would look like, I just want to have space for a garden set-up to grow my own crops.' Mary's comments come as she continues her rehab journey after undergoing surgery for a torn ACL she suffered in April – a devastating blow that's kept her sidelined from the pitch. But despite the setback, she's choosing to see it as a pause that's allowed her to reflect on what really matters.
The Advertiser
19 hours ago
- Sport
- The Advertiser
Honesty session that inspired Panthers' crucial win
Penrith drew a line in the sand while their superstars were away in State of Origin camp, meeting for an honesty session that helped inspire the crucial win over Parramatta. Panthers coach Ivan Cleary had publicly called on the squad to begin realising their potential after they suffered their biggest loss of the year to strugglers Newcastle in round 12. The four-time reigning premiers had sputtered into last place on the ladder and would've sat there later in the season than any defending premiers since 1953 if they lost to the Eels in round 13. Without their five NSW representatives, including Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo, hooker Mitch Kenny and the remaining senior players convened the squad for some tough love before the Eels game. "All of us got together... and put the line in the sand, what needs to be better, especially standards-wise," centre Casey McLean told AAP. "It was a player-driven thing. All the boys kind of knew what needed to happen." The focus of the heart-to-heart session was to remind the players that results would continue to be lacklustre without a lift in training intensity. "Just flip that switch at training, just training habits and things like that led into what happened (against the Eels)," McLean said. Star halfback Cleary noticed the lift in intensity on return from Origin duties, admitting the club's standards may have slipped during a disappointing 2025 season. "A few of the boys were talking about how hard the week at training had been," he said. "Maybe that's where we'd been lacking, just dropping our standards a little bit. I thought young guys like Casey were really good." McLean had his best game of the year against the Eels, scoring a try and setting one up to help the Panthers to the kind of gritty win that became their trademark in four premiership seasons. The improved performance was the latest twist in a rollercoaster first 12 months in the NRL for McLean, who was dropped to reserve grade after the round-eight loss to Manly. Conversations with coach Cleary reassured the 19-year-old during his two weeks out of the NRL team. "He just says it's a journey. Not everything's going to be highs, so you've got to ride the lows as well," McLean said. "It's just all learning, you can't take things as negatives. You've got to take everything as a positive, find ways to improve, move forward and this (18-10 win over the Eels) showcases what happens, I suppose." Penrith drew a line in the sand while their superstars were away in State of Origin camp, meeting for an honesty session that helped inspire the crucial win over Parramatta. Panthers coach Ivan Cleary had publicly called on the squad to begin realising their potential after they suffered their biggest loss of the year to strugglers Newcastle in round 12. The four-time reigning premiers had sputtered into last place on the ladder and would've sat there later in the season than any defending premiers since 1953 if they lost to the Eels in round 13. Without their five NSW representatives, including Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo, hooker Mitch Kenny and the remaining senior players convened the squad for some tough love before the Eels game. "All of us got together... and put the line in the sand, what needs to be better, especially standards-wise," centre Casey McLean told AAP. "It was a player-driven thing. All the boys kind of knew what needed to happen." The focus of the heart-to-heart session was to remind the players that results would continue to be lacklustre without a lift in training intensity. "Just flip that switch at training, just training habits and things like that led into what happened (against the Eels)," McLean said. Star halfback Cleary noticed the lift in intensity on return from Origin duties, admitting the club's standards may have slipped during a disappointing 2025 season. "A few of the boys were talking about how hard the week at training had been," he said. "Maybe that's where we'd been lacking, just dropping our standards a little bit. I thought young guys like Casey were really good." McLean had his best game of the year against the Eels, scoring a try and setting one up to help the Panthers to the kind of gritty win that became their trademark in four premiership seasons. The improved performance was the latest twist in a rollercoaster first 12 months in the NRL for McLean, who was dropped to reserve grade after the round-eight loss to Manly. Conversations with coach Cleary reassured the 19-year-old during his two weeks out of the NRL team. "He just says it's a journey. Not everything's going to be highs, so you've got to ride the lows as well," McLean said. "It's just all learning, you can't take things as negatives. You've got to take everything as a positive, find ways to improve, move forward and this (18-10 win over the Eels) showcases what happens, I suppose." Penrith drew a line in the sand while their superstars were away in State of Origin camp, meeting for an honesty session that helped inspire the crucial win over Parramatta. Panthers coach Ivan Cleary had publicly called on the squad to begin realising their potential after they suffered their biggest loss of the year to strugglers Newcastle in round 12. The four-time reigning premiers had sputtered into last place on the ladder and would've sat there later in the season than any defending premiers since 1953 if they lost to the Eels in round 13. Without their five NSW representatives, including Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo, hooker Mitch Kenny and the remaining senior players convened the squad for some tough love before the Eels game. "All of us got together... and put the line in the sand, what needs to be better, especially standards-wise," centre Casey McLean told AAP. "It was a player-driven thing. All the boys kind of knew what needed to happen." The focus of the heart-to-heart session was to remind the players that results would continue to be lacklustre without a lift in training intensity. "Just flip that switch at training, just training habits and things like that led into what happened (against the Eels)," McLean said. Star halfback Cleary noticed the lift in intensity on return from Origin duties, admitting the club's standards may have slipped during a disappointing 2025 season. "A few of the boys were talking about how hard the week at training had been," he said. "Maybe that's where we'd been lacking, just dropping our standards a little bit. I thought young guys like Casey were really good." McLean had his best game of the year against the Eels, scoring a try and setting one up to help the Panthers to the kind of gritty win that became their trademark in four premiership seasons. The improved performance was the latest twist in a rollercoaster first 12 months in the NRL for McLean, who was dropped to reserve grade after the round-eight loss to Manly. Conversations with coach Cleary reassured the 19-year-old during his two weeks out of the NRL team. "He just says it's a journey. Not everything's going to be highs, so you've got to ride the lows as well," McLean said. "It's just all learning, you can't take things as negatives. You've got to take everything as a positive, find ways to improve, move forward and this (18-10 win over the Eels) showcases what happens, I suppose."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nathan Cleary opens up on Jarome Luai clash after ugly act with teammate emerges
Nathan Cleary insists he'll be ready to respond if Jarome Luai tries to sledge him when the former teammates square off against one another for the first time in the NRL on Sunday. And if Luai's spray for his own Wests Tigers teammate Jack Bird is anything to go by, there could be fireworks when the four-time premiership winners lock horns at CommBank Stadium. Cleary's Panthers climbed off the bottom of the NRL ladder with an 18-10 win over Parramatta on Sunday. And the four-time reigning premiers will be looking to register back-to-back victories for the first time this season against a Tigers side coming off the back of a four-point defeat to North Queensland. It will be the first meeting between Cleary and Luai in the NRL, after the latter decided to join the Tigers at the end of last season. The pair won an astonishing 78 of 89 matches in the halves together for the Panthers and shared in all four of Penrith's grand final triumphs as part of the greatest club dynasty in the NRL era. Cleary admits it will be weird to view Luai as a rival again, having achieved so much alongside his good friend. The Panthers co-captain got the better of Luai's Samoa in 2022 when Cleary helped the Kangaroos win the World Cup final but the Penrith star still has vivid memories of coming up against Luai's St Marys Saints in his junior footy days for Penrith Brothers. "We had a few duels back then but obviously it's been a long time," Cleary said. "I'm looking forward to it. "I do remember probably the biggest upset in junior footy history. We beat them one day and they were stacked. They were so good. "They used to beat us just about 50-nil every time... and one day we got them. He (Luai) might have cried. I'm not sure that'll happen again." Cleary says he's been impressed by the impact Luai has had on the Tigers since joining the three-time reigning wooden spooners and reckons they're "one of the best teams in the comp" when momentum is on their side. Cleary says the energy Luai brings is "probably his greatest asset" but played down suggestions there could be animosity when they square off. "There's just always that mutual respect there. We don't talk all the time but whenever we do or whenever we see each other, it's always love," he said. "You'll never be able to take away what we've been able to achieve together." But Cleary insists he will be ready to fight fire with fire if Luai resorts to sledging on Sunday. "I don't really start the chirp but if he starts it then we'll see," Cleary said with a smile. Luai has already shown that even his own teammates won't be spared from a spray if they fail to meet standards after he was captured giving Tigers forward Jack Bird a bake during Saturday's loss to North Queensland. Bird copped it after a miscommunication with prop Terrell May that saw a pass go to ground before Luai scooped up the footy and got smashed in a tackle. WATCH: Jerome Luai blows up at Jack Bird after the decoy runDT wrote a whole article about happens constantly on the footy field; the cameras are just picked up on this one. — NRLCentral (@nrlcentrall) June 2, 2025 Luai clearly felt it was sloppy from Bird but the Tigers co-captain was himself to blame after being sin-binned earlier on for holding down in the ruck off the back of multiple infringements. That proved costly as the Cowboys put on two tries to race out to an early lead , with the home side also running in three more either side of halftime when Adam Doueihi was binned. The Tigers scored four tries in the final 20 minutes to set up a grandstand finish but it was ultimately too little, too late. Heath Mason impressed in his first game at No.6 and will be hoping to get another crack as Lachie Galvin's replacement at the Tigers, who will be desperate to avoid four straight defeats. with AAP
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘He might have cried': Nathan Cleary braces for ‘weird' showdown with Jarome Luai as great mates prepare for first NRL meeting
Nathan Cleary has beaten Jarome Luai in a World Cup final and recalls being part of 'the biggest upset in junior footy history' when they were teenagers coming through the Penrith system, but on Sunday the great mates will come up against each other for the first time in the NRL. 'It will be weird,' Cleary said after leading Penrith to victory over Parramatta on Sunday with a couple of huge plays in the final 20 minutes. Cleary and Luai were the Batman and Robin for so long, with the pair putting on the cape time and time again to thwart any team foolish enough to get in their way at the business end of the season. They won four premierships together and formed a bond for life as one of the most successful halves pairings in rugby league history, but the band has broken up with Luai now at the Wests Tigers where he's gone from the support act to the main man. It's been an interesting few months apart, with the Panthers finally getting off the bottom of the table, while Luai has seen halves partner Lachlan Galvin leave to join the Bulldogs. It sets up an enthralling clash on Sunday between two teams separated by just one point where two best friends will line up against each other for the first time since Australia beat Samoa in the 2022 World Cup final. 'I think there's just always that mutual respect there,' Cleary said. 'We don't talk all the time, but whenever we do or whenever we see each other, it's always love. You'll never be able to take away what we've been able to achieve together. It's always respect and love whenever we see each other. 'The last time I remember playing him was the World Cup final and before that, we would've been about 16 (when) he was playing for St Marys and I was playing for Brothers (Penrith). 'We had a few duels back then but obviously it's been a long time. I'm looking forward to it. 'He's an outstanding player and you want to test yourself against the best. It will be a bit weird at NRL level but I'm looking forward to it.' Cleary remembers enjoying a shock victory over Luai back when they were kids. 'I do remember probably the biggest upset in junior footy history, we beat them one day and they were stacked. They were so good. He might have cried,' Cleary laughed. 'I'm not sure that'll happen again. 'They used to beat us just about 50-0 every time they played us and one day we got them.' The battle of the sevens will test how far Luai has come as a chief playmaker, with the Samoan star taking the reins at Penrith last year when Cleary was injured. And while he'll want his footy to do the talking, Cleary won't be shocked if Luai's sharp tongue fires up on Sunday. 'Maybe, we'll see (if there's chirp). I don't really start the chirp but if he starts it then we'll see how it is,' he said. 'Last year really prepped him well for this year. His hands are on the ball a lot for the Tigers at the moment. Why wouldn't you? He's such a great player. 'Just his energy alone has lifted a lot of players around him. That's probably his greatest asset. 'I tune in for the Tigers boys I know well, obviously Tito (Sunia Turuva), Terrell May and Romey (Luai) in particular. 'I always enjoy watching them and keeping an eye out on them. It's been good to see them playing some good footy, particularly when they've got momentum, they're one of the best teams in the comp.' Sunday's showdown will be Cleary's second game back after helping the Blues to a pivotal win in the State of Origin opener in Brisbane. It was an emotional return for a man who missed last year's series through injury, and while he ran the ball brilliantly, Cleary had a very rare off night with the boot as he sprayed several conversions that he would normally nail. The Cleary of old would have obsessed over that and spent the next few days trying to fix everything at training, but he limited himself to 15 attempts on Saturday to not overstrain his hamstrings. It paid off as he landed two clutch conversions from out wide to go with a late 40/20 to see off the Eels. 'I think that's where a bit of evolution has come in,' he said, adding that 'physical reps become embedded in the subconscious' after so many years of practice. 'In the past I would have had as many kicks as I could (on Saturday), but being a bit older and looking after my body, I didn't have too many kicks. 'I need to have a few to flush it a bit, but I can rely on the training I've done. I've kicked so many goals in my life that I can take confidence out of that and rely on that a bit more. 'I just wanted to slow down a bit, and I'm glad that I had a few pressure kicks today so I could practise them.'
Sydney Morning Herald
2 days ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
After four titles, tears and 303 tries, Batman and Robin finally face off
Especially when statistics compiled from NRL records, dating right back to their earliest junior days in 2015, tally up no less than 303 try involvements in Harold Matthews, SG Ball, under 20s, NRL and State of Origin - either scored by Luai or Cleary, or set up for their teammates. In all, their 128 games together at every level yielded an 80 per cent win rate. And once they partnered together in first-grade for Penrith, statistically the greatest halves pairing in rugby league history - with a win percentage of 87.6 - emerged, ahead of fellow four-time title winners Kevin Walters and Allan Langer (70 per cent), and Brett Kenny and Peter Sterling (67 per cent). 'It will be weird, the last time I remember [playing] him was the (2002) World Cup final and before that, we would've been about 16,' Cleary said after Penrith's gritty win over Parramatta. 'He was playing for St Marys, I was playing for (Penrith) Brothers. We had a few duels back then but obviously it's been a long time. 'I do remember probably the biggest upset in junior footy history, we beat them one day and they were stacked. They were so good. They used to beat us just about 50-0 every time they played us and one day we got them. 'He might have cried. I'm not sure that'll happen again [but] he's an outstanding player and you want to test yourself against the best. It will be a bit weird at NRL level but I'm looking forward to it.' The Tigers will be firm outsiders on Sunday afternoon, with Cleary's kicking game well and truly back after an off-colour Origin, if his match-winning 40-20 and sideline conversions against the Eels are anything to go by. Luai's game-management of a building Tigers side remains his steepest learning curve as a top-line halfback. 'But just his energy alone has lifted a lot of players around him,' Cleary says. 'That's probably his greatest asset. Last year [when Luai spent more time than ever in Cleary's No.7 jersey while he was out injured] really prepped him well for this year. 'His hands are on the ball a lot for the Tigers at the moment. Why wouldn't you, he's such a great player. I tune in for the Tigers boys I know well, obviously 'Tito' (Sunia Turuva), Terrell May and Romey in particular. 'I always enjoy watching them and keeping an eye out on them. It's been good to see them playing some good footy, particularly when they've got momentum, they're one of the best teams in the comp, I reckon.' Loading Again, Cleary can only grin when asked what that famed boom-box blaring, glaring and yapping energy looks like come scrum time, when he finds himself at close quarters with Luai, arguably the game's most combative playmaker. 'I don't really start the chirp but if he starts it then we'll see how it is,' Cleary says. 'I think there's just always that mutual respect there. We don't talk all the time but whenever we do or whenever we see each other, it's always love.
