The North Queensland Cowboys will reportedly re-sign Jake Clifford on a one-year contract extension.
The timing of the move for the Cowboys recruitment and retention staff is intriguing, but not entirely unsurprising.
The club recently allowed veteran Chad Townsend to leave at the end of the 2024 NRL season. He will head to the Sydney Roosters at the start of the 2025 season where he will likely play in reserve grade behind Sam Walker and Sandon Smith.
Townsend, ahead of his move to the Sydney Roosters and on the back of some average form, has been dropped from the first-grade team for this weekend's clash against the Canberra Raiders.
That hands the number seven jumper to Clifford, who has managed three games this season in the top grade as a back up half.
Two of those came during the Origin period at five-eighth with Tom Deardeon Queensland Maroons State of Origin duty. The Cowboys won both of those games, but lost the game with Townsend out and Clifford at halfback during Round 9 against the Dolphins.
According to News Corp, Clifford has not only been named to play first grade this weekend but will also sign a one-year contract extension to remain in Townsville.
The extension will give him a chance to lock down the number seven jumper in 2025 with what appears to be precious little competition in Todd Payten's squad.
It will, however, be an enormous season for Clifford who in previous stints at the Cowboys and Newcastle Knights failed to prove he was among the top echelon of NRL halfbacks.
If he can get to that level though, the Cowboys' number seven jumper could be his over the coming years, with the 26-year-old entering the prime of his career.
