Penrith Panthers El Capitano Nathan Cleary has finally addressed the romance rumours surrounding him and Matildas superstar Mary Fowler after weeks on weeks of gossip and speculations.
Look, as someone who follows sport occasionally — mostly when the Parramatta Eels or Western Sydney Wanderers are doing something good — it’s super interesting to see everyone get so hung up over the Cleary and Fowler dating rumours.
To give you a bit of context: rumours first spread of a romance between the pair in late August when they were reportedly spotted getting a cheeky ice cream after an Adidas event, who they’re both sponsored by.
A couple of weeks after that, The Daily Telegraph published a photo of the pair walking side by side at the good ol’ Neapean River. According to the publication, the picture was taken on August 8, a couple of weeks before the ice cream rumour.
Since then, rumours and whispers of a new sports power couple have gone gangbusters.
The Prince of Penrith and the Queen of Matildas. A pair made in heaven.
— Pikey (@pikey14) August 23, 2023
However, speaking to News Corp on Monday, the Penrith Panthers captain shut down the rumours, telling the publication he’s “annoyed” with everyone sticking their nose in his private life.
“It is what is, it’s a little bit annoying to not have a private life but I like to not talk about it too much and keep anything I can private,” Cleary said.
“Things take off pretty quick with social media but I’ll try to keep a private life if I can.”
Prior to the player’s statement on Monday, an inside source from Cleary’s camp denied reports of a romance when the rumour first trickled through the gossip grapevine.
When the rumoured ice cream date happened, the source labelled the outing as “just ice cream”, as per The Daily Telegraph.
With Penrith Panthers potentially securing a third premiership win in a row, of course, all eyes will be on the team — kinda like how everyone got obsessed with the Tillies and their terrific performance at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
However, I personally feel that we need to focus on the main thing here. Not if Fowler and Cleary are dating, but how to stop the Penrith Panthers from winning. Okay, kidding, but obviously, we need to shift our focus away from these two and onto the game.
And not to purposely feed more fuel into the sports gossip fire, but Fowler is now headed to England to prepare for the Women’s Super League, and Cleary is busy with the possible NRL final. So, it seems like the two will be spending some time apart.
As Troy Bolton from High School Musical said: “Getcha head in the game”.
Image source: Getty Images / DeFodi Images and Mark Kolbe
