Footy great reveals stunning prediction about what will happen if Nathan Cleary leaves the NRL to be with Mary Fowler in England

All eyes are on Nathan Cleary in England because of persistent rumours linking him to a move to the UK to be with his girlfriend Mary Fowler – and now a great of English rugby league has added fuel to the fire.

Cleary is currently in Britain to visit Fowler, who is playing for Manchester City.

The couple were guests at the Super League grand final between Hull KR and eventual champions Wigan Warriors last weekend.

The playmaker has won four consecutive NRL titles with the Penrith Panthers, with the club recently having to shoot down speculation about a one-year loan agreement with the Super League so Cleary could be closer to Fowler.

Now Wigan Warriors club legend and chief executive Kris Radlinski has warned that any Cleary move away from Penrith would spark a feeding frenzy among clubs in the UK. 

‘Obviously he’s the best player in the world, what he has done for many years is outstanding, and to have him there on Saturday night at Old Trafford was fantastic,’ Radlinski told Sky Sports News.

‘I’m sure he saw the occasion and part of him fancied that. If Nathan’s name comes on the market, everybody would be trying to sign him. 

‘I’m pretty comfortable with the squad that we’ve got at the moment, but it’d certainly be great for Super League.’ 

Super League clubs are not the only ones monitoring the situation carefully.

Club rugby union is thriving in the UK and NRL champion and media personality Matthew Johns fears the rival code could swoop with big-money offers to lure Cleary to the UK. 

‘My only fear with Nathan is him going to England puts him pretty much in the spotlight or basically he’s right in the backyard of these big French rugby clubs and European rugby clubs,’ Johns said on his SEN program Morning Glory with Matty Johns on Friday.

‘And there would be a temptation there [to poach him]. Some of them [rugby clubs] would probably look to make a bid sooner rather than later, that’s the only thing that would concern me.’

Johns saw the influence of UK club rugby firsthand in the late ’90s and early 2000s when they offered his brother and NRL Immortal Andrew Johns huge contracts to defect to the 15-man code. 

‘There’s been times in our game where our players have had a big standing internationally, such as European rugby and Andrew was one of those,’ Johns said.

‘There was always the temptation of luring Andrew to rugby to take on Jonny Wilkinson.’

Former Wallaby turned newspaper columnist Peter FitzSimons has actively called on rugby to poach Cleary while he is right under their noses. 

‘The best thing might be if we of the rugby union could take Nathan Cleary off their hands for three years or so, which could give him a taste of a genuine world stage, and put him on the London/Paris/Buenos Aires circuit rather than Cronulla/Campbelltown/Canberra one, as fine as those cities are,’ he wrote in his SMH column.

‘That would also make it easier to see his partner Mary Fowler, and give him a break from the brutal physical toll of league.

‘Get it? The NRL comp is freed up for others to win for a nice change, the Wallabies might suddenly be competitive again, and Cleary gets to show his wares far from the parish pump. What’s not to like?’

Cleary himself has not hosed down the rumours linking him to an eventual UK move either.  

‘I’m not against it [a Super League move]. I have a pretty open mind to that kind of stuff,’ he said earlier this year.

‘I think just being able to experience different cultures and different experiences is something I enjoy doing. I’m not closed off to that idea.’