Jake Clifford


Jake Clifford is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL.

Background

Clifford was born in Cairns, Queensland, Australia and was raised in Tully, Queensland.
He played his junior rugby league for the Tully Tigers, before being signed by the North Queensland Cowboys.

Playing career

Early career

In 2013, Clifford played for the Northern Pride's Cyril Connell Cup side. A year later, he captained the side in their Grand Final victory over Townsville. In 2015, he moved up to the Northern Pride's Mal Meninga Cup side before moving to Townsville in 2016, where he played for the Townsville Blackhawks' Mal Meninga Cup side. In 2017, he played for the North Queensland Cowboys NYC side and was named in the 2017 NYC Team of the Year. On 27 September, he was named the 2017 Dally M NYC Player of the Year at the Dally M awards.

2018

On 17 February, he played off the interchange in a pre-season loss to the Wests Tigers, scoring a try.
Clifford started the 2018 season playing for the Cowboys' Queensland Cup feeder side, the Northern Pride. On 16 April, he re-signed with the Cowboys until the end of the 2020 season. On 24 June, he was 18th man for the Queensland Residents side. On 11 July, he started at halfback for the Queensland U20 side, scoring two tries and being named Man of the Match in Queensland's first ever win.
In Round 19 of the 2018 NRL season, he made his NRL debut against the St George Illawarra Dragons.
On 29 August, he was named Intrust Super Cup Halfback of the Year and Rookie of the Year at the QRL Gala Awards night. On 13 September, he was named the Cowboys Rookie of the Year at the club's presentation ball.
On 6 October, Clifford earned his first senior representative honours, starting at five-eighth in the Prime Minister's XIII's 34-16 win over Papua New Guinea. A week later, on 13 October, Clifford captained the Junior Kangaroos to a 40-24 win over Junior Kiwis, being named Man of the Match.

2019

Clifford entered the 2019 pre-season in a battle with Te Maire Martin for the vacant halves spot left by the retirement of Johnathan Thurston. Despite scoring a hat trick in a pre-season trial against the Gold Coast Titans, Clifford lost out to Martin and began the season playing for the Northern Pride. He made his season debut in a Round 3 loss to the Cronulla Sharks, playing five games before being dropped back to the Pride. Clifford returned to first grade in the Cowboys' Round 12 win over the Gold Coast Titans. In Round 13, he scored his first NRL points, kicking four goals in a 20–22 loss to the Manly Sea Eagles.
In Round 17, he scored his first NRL try and kicked the game winning field goal in the Cowboys' Round 17 win over the Sydney Roosters. In the Cowboys' Round 22 loss to the Newcastle Knights, Clifford suffered an ankle injury and missed the final three games of the season.
On 16 December, Clifford re-signed with the Cowboys until the end of the 2021 season.

2020

In February, Clifford was a member of the Cowboys' 2020 NRL Nines winning squad, scoring a try in their final win over the St George Illawarra Dragons.

Achievements and accolades

Individual

NRL