‘Can’t do that in league’: Cleary’s temptation to emulate Matildas with rugby swap

Nathan Cleary admits he could be tempted to swap to rugby union to achieve something similar to what the Matildas just pulled off with the home-based 2023 Women’s World Cup here in Australia, though if he did make the huge code switch he would “100 per cent have to be all-in.”

It’s no secret Wallabies coach Eddie Jones and Rugby Australia have been combing the NRL for talent, and Cleary’s latest comments from the Ebbs and Flows podcast will have them licking their lips.

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Cleary, now 25, admitted in the Aug. 27 video he has been tempted to try his hand at a global sport, namely rugby union, because of what it can mean if you win.

“The Matildas, what they’ve been able to do—you can’t do that in rugby league,” Cleary said.

“That’s the exciting part of union, it is on that global stage. If you were to do it for Australia [win the World Cup], it would be such a big thing because Australia has neglected union for a while, and it hasn’t been a massive thing.”

He acknowledges it wouldn’t be a walk in the park, despite his status as one of the best players in rugby league. Instead, if he were to pivot to the fifteen-player game, Cleary says he’d have to knuckle down and truly earn his place in the Wallabies lineup; he has no expectations that he would simply walk up and play.

“If I was to try it, I would 100 per cent have to be all-in,” he said. “I wouldn’t just be doing it for the thought of having success or wanting that status. It would take a lot of hard work, I would have to know the game inside-out before I even felt confident pulling on an Australian jersey.”

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Right now he’s signed with Penrith on around $1.3 million a year through to the 2027 NRL season, meaning if Clearly wanted to play in the 2027 World Cup—which is being hosted right here in Australia—then the Wallabies would have to pay a very handsome fee to take him away from the thirteen-a-side game early.

It’s unlikely it ever really eventuates though.

“I think that part of it is an exciting prospect, but league is all I have known and loved and it has been a passion for me,” the Panthers halfback explained. “I still feel like there’s still so much more for me to do in rugby league… it’s just a journey and I feel like I’m honestly just getting started.

“I couldn’t see myself [changing], but there is a part of me that thinks it would be cool to try.”