The Norths Devils and Western Clydesdales play tomorrow for the first time in 17 years when the race to the Hostplus Cup finals continues.

The Devils and Clydesdales last met in Round 20 of the 2006 season when Norths were affiliated with Melbourne Storm and the Toowoomba team had a partnership with the Broncos.

The Clydesdales won a high-scoring match 42-36 featuring Queensland Origin players Dane Carlaw, David Stagg and Dave Taylor and Broncos NRL players Scott Minto, Denan Kemp and Joel Moon.

The Devils had NRL premiership forward Sam Tagataese – who would return to the Devils for a second stint more than a decade later.

In all, the Devils and Clydesdales have met 21 times with Norths claiming 11 wins and one draw.

The Clydesdales returned to the Hostplus Cup this year but the draw has meant they take on the Devils until tomorrow’s match at Clive Berghofer Stadium at Toowoomba.

The Devils are locked in a race for the top eight while the Clydesdales have continued to improve throughout the season and their 2-15 win-loss record doesn’t reflect how close they have been in matches.

“The trip to Toowoomba is never easy and we know that the Clydesdales will be ready tomorrow,” Devils captain Jack Ahearn said.

“We played at the same ground last year against PNG Hunters and that was a really close game. We had to fight hard to win that.

“We expect the same tight match tomorrow and we want to keep building on what we’ve done in recent weeks.”
The Devils have won four of their last five matches including a 41-34 win over the Jets in Ipswich last Saturday afternoon.

That followed a stirring win over top-four team Wynnum Manly in the Country Week clash in Wondai. The Devils ended the Seagulls’ seven-game win streak. The Devils had done the same to Redcliffe in June.

“We’re down to the last three matches of the regular season and we want to finish our away matches with a win,” Ahearn said.