Morris is the fifth former Diesels player to leave the club during the off-season, joining Peter Little, Will Merritt, Patrick Sagigi and Connor McCauley on the departure list.

That quartet have moved to Brothers, but Clifford has linked with their Wagga rivals.

Kangaroos president Terry Cronin said the second rower’s link with new captain-coach Ben Jeffery was one of the main reasons behind the move.

“Benny was keen on getting him,” Cronin said.

“He is on board.”

Merritt, who has spent time in St George Illawarra feeder system, has played the last two seasons with Junee.

With the Diesels making it into the grand final in his first season at the club before bowing out in last year’s preliminary final, Jeffery believes his big game experience will be a boost.

“He has experience and we are obviously going to have a very young team this year,” he said.

“The more old heads and experience we can the add the better for the young kids.

“We are looking for him to be a real leader around the club.”

The Kangaroos remain active on the player market, but have just missed out on a number of high-profile signings.

“We are trying," Cronin said.

“I’ve been talking to a couple of blokes who are fairly high-profile and thought I had one of the weekend but he rang to say he decided to stay and play in Newcastle.”

Jeffery said the club’s recruitment focus was on adding more senior forwards.

Moving to the club from Albury, Jeffery is looking to move ‘Roos back up the ladder after they narrowly avoiding the wooden spoon last season.

“We have spoke about improving from last year, I think they won two or three games and we are looking to win six or seven and build on it,” he said.