JAKE TELLS JT TO ‘BEAT IT’

TELLING Johnathan Thurston to “beat it” for any playmaker is tough, especially a 20year-old playing his fourth NRL game.

But a pivotal try-scoring play in Thursday’s 34-30 win over Brisbane, where Jake Clifford ordered his childhood idol to get out of the way, may be the making of the Tully junior.

In the first half he spotted a chance down the short side, only for Thurston to run around and get the ball and offload to Clifford, who threw it over the sideline.

With 17 minutes left and the Cowboys down 30-18, a similar scenario unfolded.

This time, Clifford backed himself, and his quick pass to Justin O’Neill set up a try to Kyle Feldt which launched their comeback.

It’s a big step in Clifford’s development, as Cowboys coach Paul Green and Thurston have been drilling into him to find his voice in games.

Clifford backed his ability in the second half, and unlocked the Broncos left edge defence a handful of times in his best 40 minutes of NRL so far.

No one knows how tough it is to ask Thurston, one of the most competitive players the NRL has ever seen, to take a back seat more than halves partner Michael Morgan.

The injured Morgan spotted Clifford’s greater assertiveness when another chance presented itself.

“I know better than anyone the position he’s in. He’s playing with one of the best ever and someone he grew up idolising, it’s hard to tell him to get out of the way,” Morgan said.

“In that first half play it broke down a bit, and he tried to force it.

“In the second half the same scenario happened but I saw him wave JT out of the way, and backed himself.

“JT is always 100 miles an hour, on the ball and competing. Sometimes you actually have to say ‘hey, I’ve got this’.”

Although he only has three games left in his career, Thurston wants to see more from Clifford, who starred in the Queensland under-20 team’s drought-breaking win over New South Wales this year.

Thurston has agreed to fill an ambassadorial role at the club for the next three years, and wants to keep nurturing the halves.

“I was really proud of Cliffo on that right edge,” Thurston said. “There was a couple of times where he told me to beat it, and get out of the way. He’s starting to find his feet, it’s taken a little while but that’s what we want from him.”

editorial@cairnspost.com.au facebook.com/TheCairnsPost www.cairnspost.com.au twitter.com/TheCairnsPost