Nathan Cleary lifts the lid on his 'challenging' start to 2025 - as the Penrith star pays touching nod to injured beau Mary Fowler and sheds light on gruesome head injury

Nathan Cleary took to Instagram connected Tuesday day to talk retired connected what's been a challenging commencement to the 2025 season.

Penrith person slumped to 1 of their worst starts to an NRL play since 2013, with Ivan Cleary's four-time defending champions having managed to triumph conscionable 3 games this season, losing six.

Their talisman half-back, Cleary, has been fantabulous this play erstwhile again, notably becoming Penrith's all-time top points scorer, amassing 1,583 vocation points for the Panthers.

After 9 games, helium has amassed six effort assists, 150 tackles and 569 points for the play truthful acold and past week, produced a maestro people successful however to predominate defences, starring his broadside to a 32-8 triumph against the Brisbane Broncos.

But the footy prima has been faced with immoderate challenges this season.

After battling backmost from undergoing country successful the off-season, Cleary would instrumentality to diagnostic successful Las Vegas at the commencement of the NRL season. Three games later, helium suffered a brutal concussion during his side's circular 3 clash against Melbourne, forcing him to miss retired connected Penrith's circular 4 decision by the Rabbitohs.

Meanwhile, implicit successful the United Kingdom, his girlfriend, Mary Fowler, suffered an agonising injury, rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament, and is present expected to beryllium sidelined until 2026 - with doubts emerging implicit whether she volition beryllium capable to play successful the Asian Cup adjacent March for the Matildas.

While Cleary didn't explicitly delve into immoderate of the challenges that person travel with the commencement of the 2025 season, helium admitted that helium was taking distant a fewer lessons from the archetypal portion of the year.

'A challenging archetypal play of the play but with challenges travel opportunities for growth,' helium wrote connected Instagram, portion posting respective pictures from the past fewer months.

'Little reset/recharge and past spell again.'

Fowler, meanwhile, replied successful the comments, publishing respective bosom emojis.

In the reel of pictures, Cleary published a changeable of himself brushing his teeth successful a mirror, portion Fowler stood down him, taking his representation with her vintage camera portion holding her manus up to show a bid sign.

He besides published a drawback of the Aussie sporting powerfulness mates spending clip unneurotic connected a caller rendezvous backmost successful Australia.

Cleary isn't 1 to shy distant from a tackle, with the Kangaroos superstar adjacent publishing a precise gory representation of a caput coiled helium sustained portion playing for the Panthers. Blood was seen trickling down his look aft the caput knock.

Later successful the reel of pictures, helium besides took a photograph of his tv surface portion helium appeared to beryllium playing EA Sports FC.

The 27-year-old had loaded up the Ultimate Team mode of the crippled and had heartwarmingly sought retired Mary Fowler's playing paper successful the game, uncovering a uncommon purple mentation of the Man City star's card.

The Panthers present person a bye for this weekend's circular of footy but volition instrumentality to big the Knights astatine Carrington Park successful Bathurst connected Saturday, May 24.

And up of the match, Cleary appeared to station a clip of his team-mate Mavrik Geyer being progressive successful a heated altercation with a Newcastle player.

Geyer saw the comic broadside to the clip arsenic did respective different past and contiguous Penrith players.

'#JusticeforMav,' helium wrote with respective laughing-faced emojis.