Mary Fowler fuels speculation her romance with Nathan Cleary is in trouble with a VERY telling series of photos
The Matildas star jetted back Down Under last Wednesday and has been catching up with family and friends since.
However, Cleary, who usually meets her at the airport, was nowhere to be seen as she arrived home in Australia, with the injured Manchester City star emerging from the airport with a driver helping her with her bags.
Over the weekend, Fowler was also seen paying the Panthers half-back a quick visit to his home in Sydney, but the pair were again not seen together.
The 22-year-old, who has been ruled out until next year after she sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) during City's Women's FA Cup semi-final clash against rivals Manchester United in April, has now taken to Instagram to publish a few snaps from the last few days.
'Free art,' she captioned the string of images and videos. Four of those clips included shots of her filming through the window during her flight, showcasing several stunning sunsets and vistas of a coastline.
Fowler published a picture of a coffee as part of the set of photos, which had a love-heart shape forming in its milk, as well as a picture of a cloud formation, which also appeared to embody a similar shape.
It also appears she has been spending some time with one of her Matildas team-mates, Lydia Williams.
The Man City forward posted a snap of Williams appearing to drop her off at the airport, with a rainbow curving its way across the sky, as well as a snap of Williams' dog, Caviar, having a snooze in the back seat of the vehicle.
Williams re-posted the image onto her own story, writing: 'Rainbows and building bands.'
She also commented on Fowler's Instagram post, writing: 'Building The Band marathon.' The comment appears to be a reference to Netflix's new reality series where singers compete for a shot at forming the next big music group.
Fowler had been unable to travel home following the conclusion of the Women's Super League season, after undergoing surgery on her knee.
The footballer, who hails from Cairns, had previously explained that she had switched her allegiance from supporting Queensland to New South Wales because of Cleary.
However, she was not present during this year's State of Origin Series, as the Panthers half-back was unable to lead his team to retain the shield at the Accor Stadium.
In the past, the sporting couple has gone out of their way to support each other. Cleary flew over to Europe at the back end of last year. He followed the Matildas around the continent, notably going to support Fowler as the side took on Switzerland in an international friendly.
Fowler, meanwhile, paid tribute to her boyfriend by publishing a snap of herself online wearing a Panthers jersey, after the team clinched their fourth-straight NRL premiership.
But in the past month, Cleary and Fowler have both stopped posting about each other on Instagram.
The Panthers star has not liked one of Fowler's posts since June 6 - which was the most recent time he was pictured on her account.
The collection of images in that post had included snaps of their trip to the UK at the end of last year, one of which was an image of the pair taking a selfie together, smiling from ear to ear. 'Must be nice having a personal photographer follow you around,' Cleary had joked, noting that Fowler had published several snaps that he had taken of her walking through an old castle.
It comes as a surprise, with the couple having regularly shared insights into their lives and relationship on social media, since they first went public back in 2023.
In March, Fowler opened up on their relationship, revealing that the pair didn't really flirt the first time they met.
'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.
Fowler has also removed a set of paw prints from her Instagram bio, which was understood to be a nod to the paw prints Cleary has displayed on his Instagram account, representative of his affiliation to the Panthers.
Meanwhile, the Manchester City star also chose not to like his most recent post about his feelings of 'self-loathing and hurt' following NSW's State of Origin III thumping by Queensland.
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)
Despite concerns arising over their relationship, Fowler has been enjoying spending time back at home with her family and friends.
She took to Instagram to publish a heartwarming image of her and her mum showing off their makeup routines, several images of herself spending time with her family, and an image of how her rehabilitation is progressing.
And it appears her recovery is going very well.
Fowler has shared images and videos of her back in the gym, working on the strength in her injured leg.
The footy star was seen jumping without discomfort, a great sign, and also revealed the steps she's taking to keep progressing after such a horrible injury.
'I have recently made a conscious effort to think that I don't have like a bad knee that needs to be fixed, but I'm getting an upgrade and I'm getting an even better knee,' she said last month.
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