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A telling detail about Mary Fowler's recent return to Sydney is just one hint that her long-distance romance with NRL star Nathan Cleary might not be what it once was.
The injured Manchester City star arrived in the Harbour City on Wednesday and was photographed emerging from the airport with a driver helping her with her luggage.
Fowler has made several trips to Sydney since going public with Cleary in November 2023 and he usually meets her at the airport - but he was nowhere to be seen this time.
The Penrith halfback is currently being rested by the club so he can get over a leg injury and the after-effects of playing in the State of Origin decider on July 9, and the Panthers weren't out of town as Fowler flew in.
Cleary's absence isn't the only unusual change to the dynamic of Australia's most high-profile sporting romance, however.
The four-time NRL premiership winner has long had a set of paw prints on his Instagram bio, likely as a nod to the Panthers.
Aussie soccer star Mary Fowler arrived in Sydney on Wednesday morning to pay a visit while recovering from her serious knee injury
Unlike previous trips to the Harbour City, she wasn't greeted at the airport by her boyfriend Nathan Cleary. Instead, a driver (right) helped her with her luggage
Cleary has often been photographed greeting or farewelling Fowler as she flies in and out
Pictured: The high-profile couple getting ready to say their goodbyes just before Fowler returned home to England in May last year
Fowler used the same emojis on her Instagram bio - but they disappeared recently.
Ever since they got together, the couple have regularly shared and liked posts from and about each other, but that has also changed in the last few weeks.
In an unusual change, Mary didn't like Nathan's raw post about the embarrassment he felt after NSW fell to a heavy loss in the Origin decider against Queensland, in which he referenced the 'self-loathing and hurt' that come with defeat.
Cleary has also dropped the ball when it comes to liking Fowler's posts.
He last did so on June 6, when the 22-year-old posted a selection of photos, one of which featured her and Cleary, who commented, 'Must be nice having a personal photographer follow you around.'
That was the most recent time Nathan was pictured on her Instagram. She was last pictured on his account on May 13.
Fowler's last match for Manchester City - in which she ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee - was on April 14, and since then she has been rehabbing the injury during the Women's Super League off-season.
Fowler hasn't revealed the reason for her trip to Sydney, but the timing has some fans wondering why she didn't come down a week sooner so she could be there for one of the biggest games of her man's career when NSW tried to win the interstate series.
Another sign of a possible change to their relationship can be found on Instagram, where Nathan has been using paw-print emojis on his bio (circled)
Fowler used to feature the same emojis, but they have disappeared from her account recently
Pictured: The last time a photo of Mary was featured on Nathan's Instagram - nine weeks ago
This is the last post of Fowler's that Cleary liked, back on June 6. She hasn't liked his most recent post, which is out of character for her
She has previously explained that despite being born in Cairns, she shifted her allegiance from Queensland to the Blues because of Nathan.
In the past, Fowler has also gone out of her way to back him for big games despite being on the other side of the world - as she did by wearing a Penrith jersey to mark the team's fourth straight grand final win last October.
The eye-catching break from their usual relationship routine comes just weeks after Cleary's uncle, former NRL star Josh Stuart, revealed a startling question the star had asked him about settling down long-term.
'Nathan bounces a fair few things off me just in life in general. I'm a mortgage broker by trade, so I do his home and a few of the boys out there, so we talk a fair bit,' Stuart said.
But one conversation really stood out.
'It blew me away. It would have been six or eight months into them dating, he said, "Uncle Josh, when did you know you were in the right relationship to get married?" I knew we had something serious here,' Stuart revealed.
In March, Fowler opened up for the first time about how the two fell for each other.
'We actually didn't flirt at all when we were texting,' she said.
'We just had really deep, genuine conversations.
'It would be, like, paragraph message[s], just about the way that we think about life.
'It was nice that it started that way, because I don't think I could do long-distance with someone that wasn't interesting to talk to.'
She also gave her fans an eye-opening look into her plans for the future, admitting she doesn't see herself playing full-time in Australia 'anytime soon - if ever'.
'I really want to have a big family,' she added.
'The only dream I have at the moment is to be a mum and have heaps of kids and be in a space where they can play outside a lot.'
Earlier this year, Fowler opened up about her dreams for the future - namely having a big family that includes adopted children
Nathan's uncle, former NRL star Josh Stuart, revealed the Penrith star had asked him about marriage and finding the right woman shortly after getting together with Mary in late 2023
Not content with just a picket fence and a swing set, Mary is thinking big - envisioning a home where her future children can get their hands dirty in the veggie patch, feed farm animals, and 'run wild in the mud'.
'If I had the set-up for that, it would be a dream,' she added.
'I would love to have two or three kids of my own and then adopt.
'I don't know how many I would adopt, it's a long process. But in an ideal world I would like to adopt siblings. I would bring all of them into the home.'
Fowler also wants a fully fledged animal sanctuary – complete with a cow, goats, geese, a pig, and a towering Great Dane.
'I really want to have a whole range of animals,' she said, laughing. 'It's very random and I'm trying to convince Nath that it would be a good idea.'
Fowler and Cleary were last pictured together in April when she returned to Australia to play in the Matildas' international friendlies against South Korea.
During the trip back home, she was spotted enjoying a romantic day out with Nathan at Redleaf Pool in Sydney's east, not far from the Matildas' base in Double Bay.
