Penrith coach Ivan Cleary spills on son Nathan’s off-season plan with Mary Fowler

Penrith Panthers master coach Ivan Cleary has revealed his superstar son has put surgery on hold to be with partner Mary Fowler.

After playing through the NRL season — and grand final — with an injured shoulder, Nathan is in desperate need of post-season surgery and it was widely thought that would happen not long after the Panthers’ premiership victory over the Storm on Sunday.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Ivan Cleary reveals son Nathan’s off-season plans.

But Ivan has told Channel 7 it’s not happening for a “couple of weeks”.

“He’s heading overseas to see Mary, spend some time with her, and then he’ll get it done,” Ivan told Seven at the club’s presentation night on Tuesday.

“(There was) a little bit of work today to see who needs surgery and whatnot. We’ve got some guys picked in rep teams which is always exciting, so good times.”

Nathan, 26, will head to England to see the Matildas and Manchester City superstar after the Penrith’s fan day (on Wednesday).

His surgeon is reportedly also overseas so the surgery is expected to happen when they both return to Australia.

The care Nathan and Fowler have for each other has been obvious in recent months.

In August, Fowler rushed to be by Cleary’s side as he went to get scans on his injured shoulder following the Panthers’ narrow loss to Storm during the home and away clash at BlueBet Stadium.

And Cleary recently opened up on his long-distance relationship with Fowler, saying he had learned to stay off social media since his “naive” cross-country trip to support her at a Matildas game in Perth.

“It all just happened and I thought ‘oh, OK’. I had to deal with that but I felt a bit sorry for Mary at the time,” he said.

“Just with her personal life being in the spotlight, too, and all the added attention she had on her. We’ve spoken about it. It’s just about controlling what we can control and not worrying too much about it.”

Ivan told 7NEWS things had been “pretty hectic” since the Panthers’ claimed their fourth consecutive flag on Sunday and there had been “a lot of good times” in the the aftermath.

“(But) it’s been with the people you love so it’s pretty cool,” he said.

He said the amazing achievement of his team was still yet to sink in.

“So much work goes into a premiership campaign and so many things have got to go right and, yeah, it still feels a little surreal,” he said.

But he said he would be back at work soon, and he would start organising the return of players after rep football ends.

“And then we’ll start talking about next year,” Ivan said.

“Hopefully after the next couple of days everyone can recharge the batteries a bit and go again.”