Cleary aiming for more success with Ukraine after Euros triumph

After helping Ukraine win promotion in the European Championships, Jett Cleary wants to ensure the war-torn nation continues to climb the international rugby league ladder ahead of the 2030 World Cup.

The rookie Warriors playmaker, who is the younger brother of Panthers and Kangaroos superstar Nathan Cleary, steered Ukraine to big wins over Italy and Greece to gain first place in Group C of the 2025 Euros.

The results have earned Ukraine promotion in 2026 to Group B, which features Malta, Netherlands and Serbia – one of which will be demoted to Group C.

Significantly, Ukraine also beat Netherlands 56-12 in a warm-up match and Cleary believes that with more funding the Eastern European nation could compete at a higher level.

“It was an awesome experience, it was probably one of the best things I have ever done in my life so far,” 21-year-old Cleary told NRL.com.

“It was a really proud moment to represent my family on my mum’s side and my nan, but it was also really good to represent with the other boys from Ukraine.

“There’s a lot going on over there so it was really cool to actually win those three games for them. They were really proud and they were saying rugby league gets no funding so the three games will help us get some funding because we won.

“We just need to get some more exposure because we need some more funding, and these boys definitely deserve to keep playing, so anything I can do to help I want to do just by putting it out there that we have a team that can compete after playing those three games.”

With his parents Rebecca and Ivan watching on in Udine, Italy, Cleary guided Ukraine to a 44-20 win over Italy and 34-6 defeat of Greece, coached by Eels NRLW mentor Steve Georgallis and whose side includes Billy Magoulias.

Cleary qualifies for Ukraine through his grandmother Maree, who was born a Nazi camp during World War II.

He was one of eight heritage players to bolster the Titans stocks as many of their players are involved in defending the country after Russia’s 2022 invasion.

The others were brothers Owen and Yuri Hromow, who play for the Raiders and Sharks, Rhys Sciglitano (Blacktown Workers), Daniel Janissen (Cardiff Cobras), Jonah Ngaronoa (Glebe Dirty Reds), Zayn Sluvinsky (South Eastern Seagulls) and Victor Tereszko (Ipswich Jets).

The majority of the Ukraine squad are from the five teams in the domestic competition - Kharkiv, Lviv, Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk and Donetsk, whose players were previously evacuated from their homes and are now living in safer regions of Ukraine.

“A few of the boys were telling us stories about their families and their homes being ruined from the war, so the fact they still want to come and play football was pretty eye opening,” Cleary said.

“They have so much going on at home so it was just so cool to see how much they love rugby league over there. Even when we were on the bus going to places, they were all on their phones watching footy.

“They really do enjoy it and it was just crazy to see that all that way across the world they love the game just as much as us.”

While initially having to rely on Google Translate to communicate with some of his new team-mates, Cleary said he made lifelong friends and has been travelling with Ukraine captain Victor Tereskzo and secondrower Jonah Ngaronoa.

He will be in Liverpool to watch brother Nathan play for Australia in the second Test of the Ashes Series, which is being broadcast in Ukraine with commentary by Ukraine Rugby League president Artur Martyrosian and Test forward Yevhenii Trusov.

Nathan Cleary and secondrower Hudson Young are adopted heroes in Ukraine due to their Ukrainian heritage.

“Mum and Dad came to the Greece and Italy games so that was really cool. Mum was very proud and so was Dad,” he said.

Dad was saying how cool rugby league is that I was able to go and play with people I had never met from Ukraine and who don’t speak English in a small town in Italy.

“From the first night we met each other we were mates and I am so grateful to have met those boys. They made the trip awesome and we bonded really quickly.

“They are all very good footy players too. They really surprised me, they are really good defenders and they would just tackle all day.

“It was a bit hard in attack sometimes, with the language barrier, but there are some serious players who run hard, tackle hard and have good feet.

“The talent is definitely there and if they could get some good coaching we would have a really good team, but we won promotion so that is cool.”

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