NRL round 5: Cowboys halfback Jake Clifford addresses Super League rumours
Cowboys halfback Jake Clifford has responded to suggestions he could return to the English Super League as soon as this year after the 27-year-old was linked with Leigh Leopards. Read the latest Cowboys news.
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Cowboys halfback Jake Clifford has played down suggestions he could return to the English Super League as soon as this year after the 27-year-old was linked with Leigh Leopards.
Clifford and rookie halfback Tom Duffy are both in their final years of Cowboys contracts and are thus regarded as free agents.
With co-captain Tom Dearden locked in until the end of 2029, there doesn’t seem to be room to keep both halfbacks.
Clifford said it was natural to have speculation surround the final year of his contract, but asked if he wanted to stay in North Queensland for a while longer, he replied “yeah, I think so.”
“Honestly, with rugby league your footy does the talking,” Clifford said.
“Being off contract, there’s going to be noise around all them (sic) situations, and that (Leigh) was one last week.
“But I haven’t really given it too much thought just yet. I’m playing for the club I grew up following, and that’s all my main focus is – is trying to play some good footy and consistent footy for the Cowboys.
Last week, Leigh coach Adrian Lam suggested the Leopards were in the market for Clifford when he spoke ahead of his side’s game against Wakefield Trintiy.
“There’s always names that are going to come up in the media in this area, and I’m okay with that because we are looking and we are in a position to buy and recruit,” Lam said.
“We’re pretty excited about that, but we don’t want to be in a rush with it. Jake Clifford is a quality player, but we are looking at three or four different halves.
“We’re looking at probably a total of ten different players to get the best two or three out of that, and we’ll make those decisions as we progress through the season.”
COWBOYS UNVEIL DEFENCE ROUND JERSEY
April 3
The Cowboys have an opportunity to win a game at CommBank Stadium for the first time on Friday night when they face four-time reigning premiers Penrith.
The Panthers are currently enduring a three-game losing streak, and they have not been beaten in four consecutive games since early 2019 – the last season where they missed out on finals.
North Queensland has a winning record against Penrith in recent times, beating them in three out of the last five contests, however each victory was against a Panthers team heavily impacted by State of Origin or rest.
Cowboys coach Todd Payten said going into the game with an unchanged side would help achieve consistency.
“I don’t think confidence has ever been the challenge for our group, it’s being consistent and trying to keep everyone engaged, everyone connected,” Payten said.
“It’s been a challenging period that first three weeks, I won’t lie. But I love the way we’ve fought and I loved the way we fought a week prior and we’re going to have to do more of the same this week.”
The Cowboys left for Sydney on Thursday morning, however injured players Heilum Luki and Tom Chester stayed in Townsville to launch the 2025 Defence Round jersey.
North Queensland has once again collaborated with 3rd Brigade RAR and Townsville City Council to deliver a jersey with a local Townsville flavour.
Luki, now 12 weeks post-operation on his damaged knee, was impressed with the sky blue design.
“They look great. The designer has done an outstanding job with these jerseys, as always,” Luki said.
“Every year they look great, and this year they look outstanding. It’s always an honour to put this jersey on and play with it, just remembering what the Anzacs have done for us, giving us the life that we can live today.”
Cowboys CEO Jeff Reibel said the 2025 jersey had significance not only for Townsville, but the entire North Queensland and Defence Force communities.
“What I want to say straight away to the 3rd Brigade, is to say thank you,” Reibel said.
“We partner with the 3rd Brigade, and indeed the Defence Force here in Townsville, on many levels, and every time we do partner, I think we’re a better club for that partnership, and we’re a better club coming out of that partnership.
“The Defence Force isn’t just here to protect us in the time of war or the time of conflict, the Defence Force were the first people on the ground when we’ve all gone through what we’ve gone through with some natural disasters over the last couple of months.
“As a community, we can never be grateful enough for the support that we receive as Australia’s premier garrison city.”
Brigadier Ben McLennan said he couldn’t think of a better way to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the Gallipoli landing than with the collaboration with Townsville City Council and the Cowboys.
“What a unique way to mark respect, to mark this significant day, than the launching of this jersey in advance of the Anzac Day game here, in co-operation with the National Rugby League on the 26th of April, 2025, against the Titans, a game that we will almost assuredly win,” McLennan said.
“Defence people in Townsville feel very privileged to live in this city.
“It’s unrivalled across the country, and I would say unrivalled across the globe as far as I know, in terms of the tightness of the link between the garrison and the community.”
COWBOYS STARS’ FRANK ADMISSION ABOUT FORM AS PAYTEN NAMES TEAM
April 1
The Cowboys will take an unchanged squad to Sydney this week in pursuit of a second straight win when they take on the Penrith Panthers on Friday night.
After taking some time to settle on his preferred 17, Todd Payten has shown plenty of confidence in the team that defeated Canberra 30-20 in round 4.
Team chemistry and connectivity has been one of the most obvious areas of improvement for a North Queensland side that is in the midst of a generational changing of the guard.
Cowboys hooker Reece Robson said going into a third straight game with the same teammates was a huge benefit to the spine and the entire group.
“To start the season we’ve had a few different players in key positions,” Robson said.
“Trying to learn how new players coming into the team, and learning to play alongside them has been a bit of a bit of a, I guess, hiccup to start the season.
“So being able to go into the game this weekend with a pretty much identical side definitely helps in terms of camaraderie and just knowing how boys like to receive the ball, especially for me from dummy half, and having that same spine there definitely helps going week in week out.”
Robson made a season high tackles (48) against the Raiders but his average running metres through North Queensland’s first four games is less than half what he averaged for the past four seasons.
The New South Wales State of Origin representative said he was starting to grow into his role after a slow start.
“It’s easy to look back on a win and think you’ve played better than when you lose, but individually we have to be playing at our best and there’s definitely a lot more improvement I can do to my game,” Robson said.
“Definitely a little bit more ruck speed in terms of getting out of dummy half a bit more than the first few weeks, so on the weekend I played a little bit more footy and to have a bit more open space, it was definitely a lot of fun for myself.”
Cowboys co-captain Reuben Cotter also had his best game of the season so far, playing a whopping 72 minutes – almost 20 minutes more than his previous highest total of 2025 (56) achieved in round 3.
The tireless middle forward said he would continue to improve as the year goes on.
“I reckon I was probably a bit slow for the first few rounds, and just getting my legs back, getting my lungs back, timing – a bit like everyone else,” Cotter said.
“It’s just the first few games, everyone’s starting to get back into it. So I feel like I’ll only get better as the season goes on.
“It does a lot (naming an unchanged side); your combinations are the same and they’ll only get better the more minutes we get together.
“Looking at ‘Cliffo’ (Jake Clifford), I thought he had a great game, he really focused in on his strengths and what he does well for the team, so I hope that’ll only get better and the whole group as well.”
The Cowboys take on four-time reigning premiers Penrith in Sydney on Friday night, kick-off is at 5pm AEST.
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