Jake Clifford reckons he knows what's coming.
Knows who will be coming for him too.
"Yeah, it'll be Coen Hess," Clifford says without hesitation. "He'll be the one getting out from marker, trying to put the pressure on when I'm about to kick. He's quick off the mark for a big bloke too and does it really well.
"But he won't be the only one. I'm expecting it to be pretty physical out there with the boys on Saturday night. I wouldn't expect anything less. I'm looking forward to the challenge."
It was only a little more than a month ago Clifford 23, was struggling to hold back the tears while hugging his Cowboys teammates during emotional scenes in the dressingroom after his farewell game for the club in Townsville.
Now, he is preparing to face them for the first time as their opponent.
"It's exciting to be honest," he says. "This [coming to Newcastle] was a big move for me - a chance to get out of my comfort zone up in Townsville and into a new club and a new system.
"And I'm absolutely loving it. It's been a really easy transition for me with the way the boys here and the staff and club have accepted me so I'm looking forward to what's ahead."
Ironically, the man who first signed him as a 15-year-old from the Tully Tigers, former Cowboys and current Knights recruitment boss Clint Zammit, is the man who enticed him to Newcastle.
"I just knew Cliff would fit in down here and was exactly what we needed," Zammit said.
"He's a great kid. I signed him at 15 and brought him to Townsville after he finished school. He was the competition's Under 20's player of the year in 2017 and debuted in the NRL the year after outside Johnathan Thurston.
"I knew he'd thrive around Junior [Mitchell Pearce] and KP [Kalyn Ponga]."
The move for Clifford hasn't come without sacrifice though.
He was married back in March but his pregnant wife Steph has still been teaching in Townsville up until last week so hasn't followed him down yet.
"I went back up last week [bye round] and she was supposed to be coming down for the first time this week for the next month,"he said.
"But with COVID locking things down up there now too, that's on hold for a bit until we see what happens. She is really looking forward to coming down and meeting everyone and getting to know the other wives and girlfriends of all the boys."
Hess and Valentine Holmes were among the Cowboys players to attend Clifford's wedding. It was during the reception the couple staged a gender reveal and found out they would be having a baby girl with Clifford fittingly kicking a different kind of football that exploded into a pink cloud.
Their little girl is set to arrive on September 6, two days after the Knights final game of the season against the Brisbane Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
Steph is having the baby in Townsville so Clifford already has plans in place if the Knights make the play-offs.
"We play the Broncos on the Saturday and I'll fly to Townsville the next day and be there for the birth on the Monday before flying back to Newcastle to prepare for the finals," he said.
In the mean time, Clifford has been looking around Newcastle with the plan to buy a house for his new family.
"It's going to be a real exciting time, no matter what happens," he said.
