Ivan Cleary has responded to the latest rumours surrounding son Nathan.
Mary Fowler has opened up on her plans to have a big family one day, while Ivan Cleary has shut down rumours that Nathan is interested in a switch to rugby union. Speaking on the ‘Keegan and Company’ podcast with former NRL player Keegan Hipgrave this week, Fowler revealed she sees herself having multiple children one day.
“I really want to have a big family,” the Matildas star 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. We can do the gardening and feed the animals together and to be able to run wild in the place; be in the mud. If I had the set-up for that, it would be a dream.”
Fowler and Cleary both come from big families. She has four siblings – Caoimhin, Seamus, Ciara and Louise – while Nathan has brother Jet (also an NRL player) and sisters Indiana and Milaya. Fowler said she wants the same for herself when she starts a family.
“I would love to have two or three kids of my own and then adopt,” she said. “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.”
Ivan Cleary slaps down Nathan to rugby rumours
Whether Fowler and Cleary will get their ‘dream’ family scenario remains to be seen, and the major sticking point is the fact she’s based on the other side of the world in England. Rumours have been rife for months that Cleary might switch to the English Super League in the near future to be closer to Fowler in Manchester.
But new rumours emerged last week that a code switch to rugby union could be on the cards. Wallabies great Tim Horan revealed he’d heard it on good authority that Cleary is “very keen” on the move, while Morgan Turinui floated the possibility of Cleary playing the 15-man code in France or England.
But NRL journalist Andrew Webster revealed on Tuesday night that Cleary’s father Ivan and manager George Mimis have both rejected the claims. When asked if there was any truth to the rumours on SEN radio, Webster replied: “None whatsoever.”
He added: “People seem to overlook the fact he’s under contract with Penrith until the end of 2027, a club he loves dearly and coached by father Ivan. I made some calls on it and Ivan said ‘I’ve been getting these sort of phone calls for six months about Nathan going to rugby union, and it’s not right’.
George Mimis said he hasn’t had a conversation with anyone involved with a rugby club in any competition anywhere in the world. So that’s pretty definitive.”
Cleary has previously admitted he’d be interested in playing for the Wallabies one day. Rugby Australia changed the rules in recent years to allow overseas players to represent the Wallabies, meaning Cleary would be eligible for national selection if he was based in England or France. But Webster pointed out that playing European rugby isn’t actually the glamorous lifestyle it’s made out to be.
