Wake in river behind stern of steamer (5)
I believe the answer is:
rouse
'wake' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'river behind stern of steamer' is the wordplay.
'river' becomes 'ouse' (Yorkshire river).
'behind' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'stern of' suggests the final letters (stern can mean back).
The last letter of 'steamer' is 'r'.
'ouse' after 'r' is 'ROUSE'.
'in' is the link.
(Other definitions for rouse that I've seen before include "Cause to wake up, stimulate" , "Get going" , "Bumper" , "Waken" , "To start" .)