Nathan Cleary pic proves Mary Fowler relationship has gone to the next level

Nathan Cleary has been making the most of the NRL off-season, with the latest pic proving his relationship with Mary Fowler has never been better.

In the eternal words of the Spice Girls: “If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends.”

Well if that’s true, it seems like Nathan Cleary and Mary Fowler’s relationship has never been better if the latest picture of the NRL champion is anything to go by.

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Cleary, 26, has been making the most of the post-season, spending time with his Matildas and Manchester City star girlfriend Fowler, 21, in Europe.

Between her teams, Fowler has been getting plenty of travel miles recently with trips to Austria for a Champions League win over St Polten, before beating Aston Villa at home.

She then went on Matildas duty with away friendly matches against Switzerland and Germany with Cleary in tow.

And the four-time NRL premiership winner is enjoying life as a HAB (husband and boyfriend) seemingly getting closer to the other Matildas family members in the process.

The photo with Katrina Gorry’s daughter Harper shows that he’s clearly been accepted as part of the Matildas family.

Cleary with Katrina Gorry's daughter Harper. Photo: Instagram

Harper became a celebrity in her own right during the women’s World Cup in Australia in 2023, where she was the unofficial mascot of the Matildas.

In a 60 Minutes interview, Gorry said Harper had made the great moments even sweeter as well as being there for the players during the hard moments.
When Alanna Kennedy was ruled out of the semi-final against England due to concussion, Harper came to the rescue.

“She was in the team room and Harper just walked up to her and put her arms up and just gave her this hug,” she said.

“I looked over and Alanna just had tears in her eyes. It’s like Harper knew in that moment that that’s what she needed.”

And now it’s Nathan’s turn to get a hug from Harper.

Matilda's Katrina Gorry with her daughter Harper. Source: Instagram/Katrina Gorry

Fans were loving the photo.

“Love that Nathan is there too with Harper and the Tillies family. Harper looks very happy,” one fan commented.

“Nathan in his Tillies Unc era is (fire emoji),” another added.

A third said: “Never expected to see a photo of Nathan Cleary holding Harper. Yet here we are!”

But the fourth put it in perspective: “Nice that Nathan is getting involved in the Tillies family. He needs to get the tick from the family before he gets serious with Fowler. Looks like he’s well on the way there!”

At just 21, the world is at Fowler’s feet as she plays for one of the world’s biggest clubs and is arguably the Matildas’ biggest star behind Sam Kerr.

The loved up couple have been loving Europe. Photo: Instagram

The pair regularly feature on each other's Instagram. Photo: Instagram

In fact, arguably the biggest issue the Matildas have right now is not getting the ball to Fowler more as she likely has many more years to pull on the green and gold jersey.

Even at her age, she is already a veteran for the Matildas, having played more than 50 games after debuting at the age of just 15.

For the record, the most capped Matilda is Clare Polkinghorne, who represented Australia 167 times.

At 26, Cleary is also at the pinnacle of his sport as one of the world’s best rugby league players after leading the Penrith Panthers to a fourth-straight premiership.

While Cleary is expected to go under the knife after leading his side to the four-peat in early October with a shoulder injury.

Cleary revealed that while it didn’t hurt, there was instability in the joint, which led to plenty of discussion before the grand final about whether the injury was a time bomb which could have blown from the opening minutes and left the Panthers without their general.

Luckily for the Panthers, it held up in the premiership victory.

Fowler repped the Panthers in the Man City rooms. Photo: Instagram

You'd think Nathan could afford a few shirts. Photo: Instagram

But it’s been suggested on both sides of the relationship that there could be a move to ease the long-distance burden on the couple.

Panthers boss Brian Fletcher suggested the club needed to “bring Mary back” to Australia, likely in response to reports Cleary was considering moving to the UK’s Super League.

However, Cleary poured cold water on that when he was interviewed at Wigan’s Super League grand final win over Hull KR.

“Not anytime soon, to be honest,” Cleary said.

“I see all the rumours. I get to come over here and see her (Fowler) play which is nice and to have a break, but I won’t be moving over here anytime soon.”

Originally published as Nathan Cleary pic proves Mary Fowler relationship has gone to the next level