Mary Fowler reveals family plans with Nathan Cleary as she declares her only dream is to ‘be a mum’
Matildas superstar Mary Fowler has revealed her ultimate life dream as she spilt the beans on her family plans with Nathan Cleary.
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Matildas forward Mary Fowler has revealed she and Nathan Cleary plan on having several children, adopting and living on a farm when their respective sporting careers draw to an end.
The 22-year-old is currently signed to English giant Manchester City, where in two short years she has established herself as one of the stars of the team.
But after picking up an ACL injury in April, Fowler has been sidelined, giving her an abundance of time to think long and hard about what her future after football may hold.
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In that time she has come to the conclusion she wants kids and lots of them, and says she is excited by the prospect of eventually moving back to Australia to start a family with the Panthers superstar. The couple first went public with their relationship in January, 2024.
“I really want to have a big family,” Fowler told the Keegan and Company podcast.
“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.
“We can do the gardening and feed the animals together and be able to run wild in the place; be in the mud.”
Mary, who hails from Cairns and is one of five siblings herself – Caoimhin, Seamus, Ciara and Louise – said she is after a similarly large family herself.
“I would love to have two or three kids of my own and then adopt,” she revealed.
You can watch Mary Fowler open up about her family plans in the player at the top of the page.
“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’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. 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.”
However, that dream still appears a while away, with Fowler still having many years of professional football ahead of her if she so desires.
And while the 22-year-old admits long distance has been hard on her and Cleary, she ruled out making a move to the A-League to be by his side.
“Long distance sucks – I don’t recommend it,” she continued.
“From the get-go with Nathan, it was like ‘I’m not going to be playing football in Australia any time soon, if ever’.
“We would really like to be with each other now but it’s also kind of nice that we both still focus on our careers, get the most out of them, and then look forward to the time when we are going to be able to be with each other. It helps that we’re both busy.
“The hardest part about long distance is when something bad happens and you’re not able to be there with the person.
“We both really hate that. The amount of times just having a hug would solve your (problems), but we can’t do that.
“We just enjoy having deep conversations. It has just worked for us, having phone calls and quality time on the phone. We have gotten really good at communicating.
“I think we see a lot of positives about being in a long-distance relationship before you transition into being together.”
A move to the UK is not out of the question for Cleary, however, with speculation mounting in recent weeks that Cleary may be set to move to the UK at the end of his current Panthers deal to be close to Fowler.
Veteran commentator Andrew Voss hinted the 27-year-old may end up being the face of a new franchise if the ‘NRL Europe’ concept comes into fruition in the near future.
“Nathan has won four premierships, Origin, he’s a Test player, World Cup; he has achieved all the things you want to do in a career and I’m saying love might win out here,” Voss said on SEN on Tuesday.
“It’s obvious they’re in love and how long can that relationship be on the other side of the world when there is a solution?”
“If NRL Europe comes into being and I think it will be announced later in the year with grandiose plans Teams in London and France, they will pick how they want the comp to look.
“I don’t know where the money comes from but I think a London marquee signing of Cleary at some stage makes sense. Nathan Cleary ticks a massive box, that gives them the headline they want, they become an A-list couple, I’m talking massive picture here.”
Originally published as Mary Fowler reveals family plans with Nathan Cleary as she declares her only dream is to ‘be a mum’
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