- Manchester City star was delighted with boyfriend’s milestone
- Could not attend grand final as she was playing in England
An overjoyed Mary Fowler has reacted to boyfriend Nathan Cleary‘s fourth straight NRL grand final victory in a social media post featuring one simple word: ‘Him’.
The Matildas star was just moments away from playing for Manchester City when Penrith beat the Storm 14-6 on Sunday night – but once her match was over, she posted her message to Instagram along with a fire and heart-eyes emoji above a photo of Cleary celebrating with the trophy.
After she played a starring role in City’s 2-0 win over West Ham by scoring one goal and setting up the other, Fowler posted the caption ‘A good weekend indeeed’ alongside photos of her during the match and one of her wearing her man’s Panthers jersey and giving a double thumbs-up in the City dressing room.
In an indication of how much he had going on during the post-win party, Nathan hadn’t liked his girlfriend’s post at the time of writing.
When Cleary posted an image of himself with the trophy and the caption ‘4PEAT’, Fowler responded with a fire and two heart-eyes emojis.
The Penrith halfback was one of his team’s best players in the win over the Storm – and Fowler mirrored that with her play for City.
Her chances of a starting berth for City have been limited with the Women’s Super League contenders enjoying so many attacking riches, but the 21-year-old was included after they decided to rest golden boot winner Shaw for the visit from West Ham and their Matildas star skipper Katrina Gorry.
That gave Fowler the chance to demonstrate her dazzling ability once again up front, as she somehow managed to wheedle the ball through to Lauren Hemp in the 10th minute while surrounded by three defenders, enabling the England striker to ram home the first goal.
Fowler posted this shot of her wearing her boyfriend’s jersey in the Manchester City dressing room soon after Penrith’s stunning grand final win
The Matildas star only needed one word to show how overjoyed she was with her man’s incredible fourth premiership win in a row
Cleary and his teammates stamped themselves as one of the greatest dynasties in the history of Australian sport with their 14-6 win over the Storm
The Aussie was then on the end of a cross from teammate Khadija Shaw, which she headed into the net for her first goal of the WSL season.
While Cleary was one of the focal points of the Panthers’ victory, plenty of fans had Fowler on their mind during the win over Melbourne.
‘Tuning in to see what mary fowler’s boyfriend is up to,’ posted one fan on X.
‘My 13yr old daughter becoming an NRL fan isn’t something I anticipated. Turns out Nathan Cleary goes out with Mary Fowler and its closer and more exciting than AFL apparently,’ posted another.
‘Watching and rooting for mary fowler’s boyfriend,’ posted a third.
‘Roosters aren’t in the final and i barely care about nrl regardless so nobody, however i want mary fowler to be happy so i guess penrith,’ posted another.
Fans didn’t let up after full-time, either.
‘Shoutout Mary Fowler’s partner on another premiership win,’ posted one fan.
Fowler had one hell of a weekend – first learning that her man had reached the pinnacle of his sport once again, then scoring one goal and setting up another as her team beat West Ham
‘Good day to be a Mary Fowler fan,’ said a second.
Cleary has recently opened up about their relationship in detail for the first time, explaining how Fowler has changed his life, supported him and opened his eyes.
‘I’ve loved it, it’s all I ever could have dreamed of in having a partner, to be honest,’ he told Channel Nine’s Marlee and Me podcast.
‘It’s just added new perspective but it’s also added an extra layer there that when things are going good you want to share with them and want to talk about it and when things aren’t going good, they’re there too.
‘Super supportive and I’ve absolutely loved it. It’s just a great addition to life, to be honest, and made me really happy. Love wins.’