While Clifford has the chance to remain a starting half with the looming medical retirement of Michael Morgan, Johns and Fittler said in no uncertain terms that he was bound to honour his contract.<\/p>\n
"He signed a contract, it's done," Johns said on Wide World of Sports' Freddy and The Eighth<\/em>.<\/p>\n Fittler added: "Make some tackles, too."<\/p>\n Clifford is highly rated by Johns in particular, yet he's still to find his feet as an NRL halfback after 38 first grade games.<\/p>\n The 23-year-old, a North Queensland junior, has played all three games this season for the 0-3 Cowboys.<\/p>\n He missed four tackles and had two ineffective tackles in his team's 44-8 thumping from the Gold Coast Titans on Sunday, a team performance that Cowboys forward Josh McGuire labelled "embarrassing"<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Knights recently extended the contract of current halfback Mitchell Pearce<\/a>, a 2013 premiership winner with the Roosters and former NSW State of Origin No.7.<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n