{"id":369962,"date":"2024-02-22T23:46:02","date_gmt":"2024-02-23T00:46:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=369962"},"modified":"2024-02-23T02:02:16","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T02:02:16","slug":"clearys-big-super-league-reveal-after-aussies-dig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=369962","title":{"rendered":"Cleary's big Super League reveal after Aussie's dig"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three-time NRL<\/a> champion Nathan Cleary<\/a> says he is "open" to one day playing in the Super League<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\ufeffBut it comes at the same time a fellow Aussie player says the level of training in England's top competition is "a piece of piss".<\/p>\n

Jake Clifford spent time at the Cowboys and Knights before heading overseas to lace up for Hull FC last year.<\/p>\n

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He has returned Down Under to play for North Queensland again this season, and was asked on SEN radio how he would compare a pre-season at Hull to one in Townsville or the Hunter.<\/p>\n

"No chance. Pre-season in England was a piece of piss really compared to what we go through here," Clifford said.<\/p>\n

\"Nathan<\/p>\n

Those comments will no doubt cause a stir in the motherland but Cleary's revelation may pacify the \ufeffEnglish league fans.<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old halfback has steered Penrith to three consecutive grand final victories, and he almost single-handedly dragged the Panthers back from a 16-point deficit to beat the Broncos last year.<\/p>\n

He's considered by many good judges to be a future Immortal of Australian rugby league, making a potential Super League switch a major coup for the game overseas.<\/p>\n

"I'm not against it," Cleary told the UK's Mirror this week in Manchester.<\/p>\n

"I have a pretty open mind to that kind of stuff.<\/p>\n

"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."<\/p>\n

Cleary is signed to Penrith until the end of 2027, meaning he will be 30 years old once that contract expires.<\/p>\n

He certainly wouldn't be the first champion NRL playmaker to dabble in the Super League at the back end of his career.<\/p>\n

Cleary's idol Andrew Johns briefly played for Warrington in 2005, and more recently it was 2013 Roosters premiership halves Mitchell Pearce and James Maloney who finished their careers overseas.<\/p>\n

\"Nathan<\/p>\n

\ufeffA potential sweetener on any Cleary deal could be the fact his current partner, Australian football star Mary Fowler, now plays for Manchester City.<\/p>\n

Cleary and his Panthers are in Manchester this week for the World Club Challenge, played on Sunday morning (AEDT).\ufeff<\/p>\n

"I actually really like just being able to wander around the streets and no one knows who you are," Cleary said of Manchester.<\/p>\n

"I think I've only been recognised once. It's a nice change (to Sydney)."\ufeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three-time NRL champion Nathan Cleary says he is "open" to one day playing in the Super League. \ufeffBut it comes at the same time a […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":369964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369962"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=369962"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":369967,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369962\/revisions\/369967"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/369964"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=369962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=369962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=369962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}