Why Jake Clifford never gave up on North Queensland Cowboys dream
Jake Clifford is intent on earning a long-term contract with his boyhood club, even if it means taking the long road. Find out why he’s excited to build an enduring combination with Tom Dearden.
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Returning Cowboys favourite Jake Clifford declared his goal was to earn a contract extension that would see him call North Queensland home for the foreseeable future as he fights to resurrect his NRL career.
Clifford agreed to a one year deal with the Cowboys in August after a fantastic season with Hull FC in England’s Super League, but the Tully Tigers junior said it was always his intention to return to his beloved club.
“Super stoked to be back. It feels natural to be back in Cowboys colours and I’m looking forward to what’s to come,” Clifford said.
“I was in England and got a phone call from Dane-o (Campbell) and he said (the Cowboys) were keen to get me back.
“I hung up the phone and told the wife and we were over the moon, because to be honest we didn’t really feel like leaving in the first place.
“But it kind of worked out good in the end – I had a bit of growing up to do and a bit of learning to know about myself and now I’m back and hopefully better for it.”
Clifford played 27 games for Hull, including two Challenge Cup fixtures, captaining the side on one occasion and finishing the season as the club’s top pointscorer (120).
With five tries and 50 goals from 70 attempts, the Cairns-born halfback was a constant scoring threat despite his team missing out on finals football.
Clifford was sounded out to provide the club depth in the halves after Ben Hampton hung up the boots and Jake Bourke departed for France.
But the 25-year-old, who was crowned the Cowboys’ Rookie of the Year in 2018, said he wasn’t here to play second fiddle.
“I want to put my best foot forward, train well and play some games of footy in the team and I’m looking forward to hopefully re-signing,” Clifford said.
“That’s my goal here. We love living in Townsville and love being here at this club, it feels like home for us and hopefully we get to stay for a bit longer.
“Talking around the club before I was leaving, it was ‘it’s only going to be short for me and you can always come back’ and it was kind of my decision of how hard I wanted to work to try to get back here.”
Much like in-demand five-eighth Tom Dearden, Clifford had pressure mounted on him early in his career and the weight of expectations did no favours to his development.
The Cowboys recruit said he was looking forward to building a lethal combination with a player of Dearden’s calibre.
“I’m super happy for how Tommy (Dearden) has been going. He had a lot of pressure as well coming through at the Broncos and just seeing how he’s come to Toddy (Payten) and flourished and how confident he’s playing and how he is around the boys – it’s something I’m looking forward to and something hopefully I can do as well,” Clifford said.
“Tommy is such a competitor. I’ve seen that ever since he was playing footy in first grade.
“He’s a great bloke too off the field, I’ve got to catch up with him before in the off-season and play a little bit of golf with him.
“Hopefully we can form some kind of combination if we get to play together.”
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Originally published as Why Jake Clifford never gave up on North Queensland Cowboys dream
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