It sounds outrageous at first glance. Nathan Cleary — four-time premiership winner, certain future Immortal, the best halfback in the world — in red, white and blue? Running alongside Sam Walker in the most stacked halves combination the NRL has seen since the Roosters paired Cooper Cronk with Luke Keary?
It’s not as crazy as it sounds. And the next few months are going to tell us a lot about whether the Roosters dare to ask.
Why Cleary is suddenly available
Penrith Panthers superstar Nathan Cleary has admitted he is weighing up hitting free agency for the first time in his career. Currently off-contract at the end of 2027, Cleary would be free to negotiate with rival clubs from November 1.
That sentence alone is enough to send shockwaves through the competition. So dedicated has Cleary been to Penrith that he left hundreds of thousands of dollars on the table last time, and even asked halfway through his last contract whether he could reduce his wage in a bid to keep the club’s premiership-winning outfit together.
This is not a man who has ever coveted the market. He has always re-signed early, always given Penrith the discount. The fact that he is now openly saying he is “not closing off any avenues” is the most significant shift in his career posture since he debuted as a teenager.
“It’s a process that’s pretty foreign to me, I’ve never done it,” Cleary told media. “That’s a discussion to be had in the coming weeks or months or whatever. I don’t know. I wasn’t going to close off any avenues, like I was quite open to everything.”
The complicating factors — and there are several
Before Roosters fans start printing jerseys, the reality of Cleary’s situation needs to be understood clearly.
The England pull is real. His partner, women’s soccer player Mary Fowler, lives in England, and Cleary would well entertain the idea of a switch to the Super League or rugby union. Zero Tackle Leeds and Great Britain rugby league legend Garry Schofield claimed Hull FC tabled a four-year deal worth £1 million per season.
Whether that report is accurate or not, the principle is sound — if Cleary wants to be close to Fowler, England is a serious option that has nothing to do with NRL clubs.
Penrith are fighting hard. The Panthers have ramped up their efforts to re-sign both Nathan and Ivan Cleary, amid claims Nathan could become the first player in NRL history on $2 million per season if the salary cap increases significantly with the next broadcast deal.Penrith CEO Matt Cameron has said publicly he is “confident” both men will stay. A two-million-dollar offer from your home club, your father as coach, your teammates around you — that pull is enormous.
The Walker problem. Sam Walker is contracted until the end of 2027. Cleary doesn’t become available until 2028 at the earliest. Walker’s father Ben has spoken about wanting to coach his son in the NRL — and his desire to emulate the successful father-son duo of Ivan and Nathan Cleary at the Panthers.If Ben Walker lands an NRL head coaching role, the Roosters may find themselves losing their own halfback at exactly the moment they’re trying to recruit someone else’s. The salary cap implications of carrying both Walker and Cleary — even temporarily — would be extraordinary.
The case for: Why it’s not as ridiculous as it sounds
The Roosters are linked to just about every player who ever comes off-contract if they have some talent. If they sign Cleary, the jokes will never stop regarding their salary cap, but there is also a chance they make a play.
That wry assessment from Zero Tackle actually contains the core of why this is worth taking seriously. The Roosters have form for this. They signed Cooper Cronk when everyone said he was done. They signed Daly Cherry-Evans when everyone called it a sentimental retirement tour. Both times the football community underestimated what Robinson would extract from the player. Both times the Roosters looked smarter than their critics.
A Cleary recruitment would follow a familiar playbook. Tedesco turns 35 in January 2028 — entering the twilight of his career. Walker, off contract at end of 2027, is an uncertainty. DCE will be 39 by the time 2028 rolls around. The Roosters’ spine, as currently constructed, has a natural end date. Cleary — who turns 30 in 2028, entering his absolute prime years — would be a four-to-five year investment in the next generation of Roosters dominance.
The salary cap would need to work. Nick Politis has always found a way.
The Roosters’ established playbook: late-career legends vs prime-years superstars
There is actually a distinction worth drawing here. The Cronk and DCE signings were late-career moves — veterans being brought in for one or two final chapters. Cleary at 30 would be something different: a prime-years superstar, potentially the best player in the world, being poached mid-career. The Roosters have never quite done that.
But they have the infrastructure to make it happen. The Roosters remain stacked, but age is creeping in. With Daly Cherry-Evans nearing the twilight of his career, the focus must be on immediate success — the roster is strong enough to win now, but long-term sustainability is approaching fast.
That long-term sustainability question is exactly where a Cleary recruitment answers every concern in one move.
The verdict: possible, but the stars need to align
Cleary staying at Penrith remains the most likely outcome. He is embedded in the culture, his father coaches the side, and the Panthers will make him the highest-paid player in NRL history if that is what it takes. The England option is real but uncertain — it depends on Fowler’s club situation and whether Cleary wants to leave Australian football behind at 30.
But if — and it’s a significant if — Cleary does test the market properly from November 1, the Roosters will be in the conversation. They always are. And given what Robinson has consistently extracted from star players in red, white and blue, the combination of Tedesco, Cleary, and whoever builds around them in 2028 is the kind of thing that keeps rival coaches awake at night.
Could the Roosters chase Cleary? Yes. Will they get him? Probably not. But the fact that the question is even worth asking — for the first time in his career — says everything about where Cleary’s head is at heading into the second half of 2026.
