The NSW State of Origin halfback has opened up on his girlfriend’s decision to switch allegiances.
Nathan Cleary has revealed girlfriend Mary Fowler has jumped ship and will be supporting NSW in State of Origin – despite being born in Queensland. But the Blues halfback also revealed ‘unfortunate’ news that she won’t be in attendance for Game 1 in Brisbane.
Fowler is a proud Queenslander and was born in Cairns, but she’s switched her State of Origin allegiances to support her boyfriend. Cleary will return to the Origin arena to lead NSW against Queensland, after missing the entire 2024 series due to injury.
Currently in England rehabbing her knee after an ACL injury, Fowler phoned Cleary on Sunday night to congratulate him on his selection. And she had one very important request – that he send her a NSW jersey.
“I’m gonna have to (send her a jersey), I reckon. She’s already put in the request, so I think I’m gonna have to,” Cleary told News Corp on Monday. “She reckons she is going for the Blues, so I think I have swung her.”
Mary Fowler won’t be able to attend State of Origin games
Fowler’s defection is easy to understand considering she already plays for the Blues herself – English club Manchester City. And while the Matildas star has been in Australia in recent weeks catching up with Cleary and her family, she’s likely to be abroad when Origin 1 kicks off on May 28.
Had she not been injured she would have been free to attend, but City’s medical team are keen to have her back in the UK for her rehab. “I don’t think so,” Cleary said when asked if Fowler would be at any of the Origin games this year.
“It’s pretty unfortunate because she was meant to be back last week, so she would have been able to come to the game. But, yeah, she’s sort of attacking her rehab at the moment and hopefully she can get back at some stage, but nothing is confirmed yet.”
Mitchell Moses excited to finally play Origin Game 1
Cleary will team up with Mitchell Moses in the halves for NSW, after Moses and Jarome Luai led the Blues to a series triumph last year. Moses came in for the second and third games, combining lethally with Luai as NSW came back to win 2-1.
But Cleary’s availability means there’s no room for Luai this year, who hasn’t been in great form for Wests Tigers. Moses will play his sixth game of Origin footy on Wednesday week – but his first in a series opener.
I haven’t played in a Game 1 before, so I’m excited for that and go up there and hopefully do a job on them,” he told reporters on Monday. “It’s a good moment [the 2024 series win] – I don’t think it’s a defining moment.
“It was a good moment to have and to win the series up there, but that series is gone and done and moving on from there and we’ll look to do a job this year. It gives you a bit of confidence I guess, but it’s a new series and new team.”
On playing with Cleary he said: “Any time you can play with a player of his calibre, it’s massive and I’m really excited about that. I’m excited to even learn off a player like Nathan.
He’s a quality player and I’m excited for the challenge. He competes on every play, he’s the ultimate competitor and he’s shown that pretty much his whole career. It’s exciting to play with a player like that, who doesn’t leave anything to chance out on the field.”
