Nathan Cleary reveals the MAJOR roadblock stopping him from starting a family with Matildas superstar Mary Fowler: ‘She’ll be the best mum’
Penrith Panthers superstar Nathan Cleary has revealed that he’s interested in settling down and starting a family with Mary Fowler, but also explained the struggles of maintaining a long-distance relationship.
Fresh from spearheading Penrith to their fourth consecutive premiership title, Cleary and Fowler spent a few weeks together after this year’s NRL grand final as he jetted over to be with her in England – and followed her to Switzerland to see her play for the Matildas.
Their relationship appeared to step up a notch when Cleary was photographed holding Matildas star Katrina Gorry’s daughter Harper as he watched the Aussies take on Germany – the first time he’s been pictured spending time with his partner’s closest mates.
Cleary had to return home in November in order to have shoulder surgery in time to be fully healthy for the start of the NRL season on March 1 next year – but he and Fowler have both been busy posting shots of each other on social media as they keep their long-distance relationship alive.
However, Cleary has admitted that the distance between them is taking a toll.
‘It’s been tough, it’s definitely not something that I ever thought I’d do,’ he told the Keegan and Company podcast.
Nathan Cleary says he’s interested in settling down and starting a family with Mary Fowler
Cleary says he thinks Fowler would be a great mother – and that the couple have spoken about having children together
‘I think it sort of helped for us that as soon as we met each other, and we sort of got talking, we knew it was going to lead down to that path and if we wanted to do it, it was going to be long distance.
‘Sometimes you just get home and you want a little cuddle, but I think it’s helped us in a way to connect on more than just (on) a physical level and actually have genuine conversations.
‘We just navigate around it and when we do see each other, it’s the best thing ever. You are really grateful for those moments we get to spend together. We’re constantly talking on FaceTime or whatever and we sort of find our way through that.’
The Panthers playmaker said that both he and Fowler have spoken about having children, but arrangements currently aren’t ideal for a family.
‘It’s obviously tough that we are both pretty stuck into our sport,’ he said.
‘Definitely want to (have kids) in the future. I’d love for it to be with Mary, I just think she’ll be the best mother.
‘But yeah, we’ll see. It’s not a rush at the moment but definitely in the future … post footy, I would love to have a little family of my own.’
Cleary said a key to their relationship is that they both understand each other’s worlds.
The NRL star said it was difficult to navigate a long-distance relationship
‘It is and she definitely understands … people look at us and think that we are talking about our sport all the time but sometimes it’s just nice to just sit there as two human beings and enjoy each other’s company and talk about something other than sport,’ he said.
‘I think probably for both of us, a lot of people want to talk about sport all the time and I think when we’re together, we just enjoy each other’s company but it’s always that support and trust that if something is going wrong we can talk to each other about it and sort of bounce ideas off each other, it’s been really nice.’
Meanwhile, Fowler recently decided to pull out of the national squad for the recent internationals against Brazil and Taiwan.
She said she needed ‘to take this time to prioritise recovery in order to refresh both mentally and physically, so that I can continue to put my best self forward for both club and country’.
On Monday morning, Fowler returned to action for Manchester City with a superb goal in their 4-0 trouncing over Leicester.
