{"id":349164,"date":"2026-03-26T17:44:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/349164\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T17:44:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T17:44:12","slug":"ford-reveals-the-crucial-conversation-that-saved-his-nrl-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/349164\/","title":{"rendered":"Ford reveals the crucial conversation that saved his NRL career"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Jackson Ford<\/a> first weighed up a move across the ditch, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to keep chasing rugby league.<\/p>\n

When making the decision at 24 years of age, the second-rower’s career could have taken a very different turn.<\/p>\n

Back in 2022, Ford was exploring options outside of the St. George Illawarra Dragons system, a place where he felt his first-grade potential had long been doubted.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Offers were limited, confidence was low, and the idea of walking away from the NRL<\/a> entirely, wasn’t out of the question.<\/p>\n

“There wasn’t much on the table, to be honest,” Ford told SEN’s The Run Home.<\/p>\n

“I think there was like a couple of bottom dollar (offers), Parra (Eels) and Canberra were the only sort of other two options.<\/p>\n

“But then\u2026 my manager sort of said, \u2018The Warriors are keen’, and\u2026 at the time, I was thinking, \u2018Jesus, I don’t know about that’. You know what I mean?<\/p>\n

“I wasn’t gonna be getting too much money either. I’m a carpenter as well, so I was sort of half even considering that, giving it up and starting because I never really had much confidence leaving from that Dragons period.<\/p>\n

“I was always sort of getting told that I’m not a first grader and stuff, so I was weighing up my options.”<\/p>\n

That uncertainty makes what’s happened all the more remarkable.<\/p>\n

Ford joined the New Zealand Warriors<\/a> in 2023, a decision that has transformed his career.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Since arriving in New Zealand<\/a>, the 28-year-old has practically doubled his NRL<\/a> appearances, becoming a key figure in the club’s forward pack.<\/p>\n

Ford currently sits atop the Dally M leaderboard, alongside teammate Tanah Boyd<\/a>, with both players enjoying breakout seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s a striking turnaround for two footballers who, not long ago, were still fighting to prove they belonged at the top level.<\/p>\n

Central to that rise has been Warriors coach Andrew Webster<\/a>, whose belief and attention to detail helped unlock Ford’s potential.<\/p>\n

Their first meeting left an immediate impression.<\/p>\n

“I went to the pub, met him (Webster), (and) as soon as I sort of had a chat to him, I thought, \u2018Let’s just have a shot, and we’ll head over there and go all in’,” Ford said.<\/p>\n

“(Webster) just told me stuff that I didn’t even know about myself.<\/p>\n

“I was in the Dragons’ system for a long time, and he was telling me stuff that I hadn’t even heard from them, boys.<\/p>\n

“Like, you got a left arm carry, I see you doing this, and I think we can fix this up. This is what we need to fix you up with some little things.<\/p>\n

“It just sort of opened my (eyes). I was like, ‘That sounds exactly like he knows what he’s talking about’.”<\/p>\n

That trust has since been repaid.<\/p>\n

Ford secured a two-year contract extension to his original contract in 2024, keeping him at the Warriors until at least the end of 2027<\/p>\n

With momentum building, Ford and the Warriors look to maintain their winning streak when they face the Wests Tigers<\/a> on Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Jackson Ford first weighed up a move across the ditch, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349165,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-349164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}