Nathan Cleary took to Instagram on Tuesday afternoon to speak out on what’s been a challenging start to the 2025 season.
Penrith have slumped to one of their worst starts to an NRL season since 2013, with Ivan Cleary’s four-time defending champions having managed to win just three games this season, losing six.
Their talisman half-back, Cleary, has been excellent this season once again, notably becoming Penrith’s all-time greatest points scorer, amassing 1,583 career points for the Panthers.
After nine games, he has amassed six try assists, 150 tackles and 569 points for the season so far and last week, produced a master class in how to dominate defences, leading his side to a 32-8 victory against the Brisbane Broncos.
But the footy star has been faced with some challenges this season.
After battling back from undergoing surgery in the off-season, Cleary would return to feature in Las Vegas at the start of the NRL season. Three games later, he suffered a brutal concussion during his side’s round three clash against Melbourne, forcing him to miss out on Penrith’s round four defeat by the Rabbitohs.
Nathan Cleary (right) has opened up on a ‘challenging’ start to the 2025 season but admits he’s using the period to ‘grow’
Cleary also paid a cute nod to his injured girlfriend Mary Fowler (left) publishing multiple pictures of the Manchester City star in the post
Fowler ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament earlier this season and is expected to be out of action until next year
Meanwhile, over in the United Kingdom, his girlfriend, Mary Fowler, suffered an agonising injury, rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament, and is now expected to be sidelined until 2026 – with doubts emerging over whether she will be able to play in the Asian Cup next March for the Matildas.
While Cleary didn’t explicitly delve into some of the challenges that have come with the start of the 2025 season, he admitted that he was taking away a few lessons from the first part of the year.
‘A challenging first period of the season but with challenges come opportunities for growth,’ he wrote on Instagram, while posting several pictures from the past few months.
‘Little reset/recharge and then go again.’
Fowler, meanwhile, replied in the comments, publishing several heart emojis.
In the reel of pictures, Cleary published a shot of himself brushing his teeth in a mirror, while Fowler stood behind him, taking his picture with her vintage camera while holding her hand up to display a peace sign.
He also published a snap of the Aussie sporting power couple spending time together on a recent rendezvous back in Australia.
Cleary isn’t one to shy away from a tackle, with the Kangaroos superstar next publishing a very gory image of a head wound he sustained while playing for the Panthers. Blood was seen trickling down his face after the head knock.
Cleary also paid a cute nod to Fowler on the Instagram post, publishing a screen shot of himself looking for her rare Ultimate Team card on the video game EA Sports FC
In the post, Cleary wrote: ”A challenging first period of the season but with challenges come opportunities for growth’
Later in the reel of pictures, he also took a photo of his television screen while he appeared to be playing EA Sports FC.
The 27-year-old had loaded up the Ultimate Team mode of the game and had heartwarmingly sought out Mary Fowler’s playing card in the game, finding a rare purple version of the Man City star’s card.
The Panthers now have a bye for this weekend’s round of footy but will return to host the Knights at Carrington Park in Bathurst on Saturday, May 24.
And ahead of the match, Cleary appeared to post a clip of his team-mate Mavrik Geyer being involved in a heated altercation with a Newcastle player.
Geyer saw the funny side to the clip as did several other past and present Penrith players.
‘#JusticeforMav,’ he wrote with several laughing-faced emojis.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .