NRL personality takes swipe at Hull following Nathan Cleary Grand Final appearance

NRL commentator Andrew Voss has taken an extraordinary swipe at the city of Hull following Saturday’s Grand Final. Penrith Panthers superstar Nathan Cleary was in attendance as Wigan Warriors took on Hull KR at Old Trafford and he was interviewed while wearing a KR shirt.

Of course, the gesture was nothing more than a show of support to the people he knows within the Robins ranks such as former Panthers teammate Tyrone May, who he was pictured with on Saturday morning. The Australian’s partner Mary Fowler is based Manchester, too, with the 21-year-old footballer currently plying her trade with Manchester City.

However, his appearance in England comes amid weeks of wild and unsubstantiated rumours that Cleary was keen to make the move to Super League in order to be closer to his girlfriend.

Those rumours were never likely to be accurate and Cleary, who is widely recognised as the best player in the world right now, took the opportunity to shut them down when talking to Sky Sports at half-time at Old Trafford.

The fact that he was at the Grand Final in a Rovers shirt left some people putting two and two together to get five.

The moment was spoken about on Monday morning’s SEN Breakfast with Vossy and Brandy (Greg Alexander) and Voss addressed the situation before calling Hull as a destination ‘pretty grim’.

“He goes from starring on the field and winning a fourth (NRL) Grand Final to spectator at Old Trafford and he was interviewed,” Vossy said on the radio show. “England was, you know ‘Oh, Nathan is going to come over and play in the north of England.’ The rumour mill had been absolutely banging drums, they were hopeful, how good would it be over here, Mary Fowler’s there.”

After playing the interview with Sky, Vossy continued: “Jenna Brooks got straight to the question. She even sounded hopeful. Jenna, I don’t think was sure of what answer she was going to get and was hoping for a little bit of burly thrown out by Nathan about how he’d love to challenge of playing in Super League and then they could have kept running with it.

“He didn’t say that. He said he wouldn’t be coming over anytime soon.”

Asked if Cleary’s words surprised him, he added: “No, and particularly Hull. I mean it’s pretty grim over there.

“Hull is not my number one destination when I go to England. I love the train ride across to Hull but then I get out of Hull and move away.

“But I do love the fish and chips. If he likes fish and chips, Nathan, you’ve picked a good city. I don’t think I’ve had finer fish and chips and ‘pattie butty’ than in Hull.”