Nathan Cleary’s lawyers are considering civil and criminal action after the Penrith star’s image was used fraudulently to endorse products without his permission.
Cleary, one of Australian sport’s greatest personalities, is constantly in demand from luxury brands want to partner with him. The NSW halfback is picky about which companies he will collaborate with in order to maintain his image and focus on football.
However, this hasn’t stopped other companies from unlawfully capitalizing on his notoriety.
Perhaps the most audacious effort took place just hours after Queensland won the State of Origin final 24-12 at Accor Stadium on Wednesday night. Hundreds of visitors to Sydney Olympic Park’s nearby P1 car park returned to their vehicles to find a brochure on their windshield.
It featured a digitally altered photograph of Cleary with his arm wrapped around a lady – not his present partner, Mary Fowler – promoting a company that sells rugby league-themed vehicle bonnet covers.
“You go, Blues! I knew it had rizz! I’m taking this one home!” the flyer adds suggestively in bold characters, before adding, “This flier was printed a week ago.”
The firm did not seek permission from Cleary or his management to use his likeness, and no attempt was made to compensate him.
The photograph shows Cleary wearing a Blues jersey that looks to have been doctored, as the sponsors featured are not affiliated with the franchise. Daniel McGirr, Cleary’s lawyer, stated that the incident would be reported to the police.
“It’s a disgrace what they’re doing with these guys’ brands,” McGirr told the crowd. “There are a few avenues that will be pursued. One is civil, but they are also gaining a benefit through deception, which is illegal. We don’t know who is affiliated with these brands – or whether they are real brands to start with.
“They may be scams. Assume the passerby believes, ‘Nathan Cleary is linked to this, I trust him, and he’s my hero.’ When consumers click on it, they may be led to the dark web or another fake site. This is a criminal matter. With AI, this will only get worse until something is done.”
It is not the first time Cleary’s intellectual property has been used to fraudulently sell items. Cleary’s manager, George Mimis, sent a letter to AussieSportswear earlier this year, asking the company not to sell clothes with his or other clients’ images, including as Darren Lockyer and Billy Slater.
“You have no approval or authorisation by our Talent to use their name, image, likeness, or indeed any of their intellectual property (original or otherwise), for commercial gain,” claims the letter, which was sent on June 4, 2025.
“Not only was there no consent, but our Talent had no knowledge at all that their images were being used.”
In the letter, Mimis highlights misleading and deceptive conduct clauses under Australian Consumer Law that he believes the firm violated. He further requests that all marketing materials be removed, that retail sales cease, and that the company “destroy all inventory/stock featuring our Talent and provide to us within seven (7) business days, photographs/videos showing the destroyed goods” by June 12, 2025.
Despite a follow-up email on June 23, the company has not complied. An ASIC search reveals that the firm was deregistered in 2017.
“We take these matters extremely seriously given the deception that is portrayed can mislead fans into being duped into scam products and schemes,” Mimis told this magazine’s masthead. “We defend the reputations of our talent extremely highly.”
Cleary is not the only one who has suffered as a result of that company’s unauthorized item sales. The company also claims to sell hoodies, beanies, sneakers, watches, jerseys, and other items with athlete photos or club logos.
Latrell Mitchell, Cody Walker, Cameron Smith, Tom Trbojevic, Jonathan Thurston, Wally Lewis, Josh Papali’i, and Daly Cherry-Evans are just a few of the league stars who have been targeted, and the AFL and other Australian sports have also been affected. There is even a shower curtain for sale featuring images of former Swans star Buddy Franklin.
There are several incidents of individuals being misled after purchasing things from websites that falsely advertise products that are never delivered.
“There’s a bigger story here about protecting the players as well,” McGirr pointed out. “Something needs to be done from an NRL perspective, because the NRL merchandising section should be the most concerned.”
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