New challenge for Feldt

With one of the Toyota Cup’s most distinguished careers now behind him, Kyle Feldt has started a new challenge – being part of the North Queensland Cowboys’ NRL squad.

The centre/winger is one of three members of the 2012 NYC team who have started full-time training with the NRL squad for the first time, joining front-rower Felise Kaufusi and hooker Alex ala as 2013 rookies.

Jason Taumalolo, who has already played 21 NRL matches, and Chris Grevsmuhl, who represented the Junior Kangaroos in October, will continue as part of the NRL squad but remain eligible for the under-20s again in the coming season.

In August, Feldt finished his NYC career as the competition’s all-time leading scorer and the holder of the Cowboys’ record for most points in a season in the Toyota Cup.

He also made the NYC Team of the Year in 2011 and played for the Junior Kangaroos against the Junior Kiwis in Newcastle that year.

The 20-year-old is already certain of some key changes between being a Toyota Cup player and being part of the NRL set-up.

“The under-20s is a stepping stone,” he said.

“It’s a big step from 20s to first grade.

“Training’s going to be a lot harder.

Much more intense, but I’m looking forward to it.

“Every first grade team is hard to crack.

You’ve just got to make sure you’re doing the right things – stay fit, keep your body right and train hard to make a good impression on the coaches.

“It’s going to be pretty tough to make this time. It’s a good backline we’ve got.”

Feldt said he was looking forward to training full-time with his “idols” – Johnathan Thurston and Matthew Bowen.

“I’ve always looked up to them, especially Matt because he’s from up here,” the Townsville Norths junior said.

“He’s always been with the Cowboys and it’s just going to be good to train and play with him.

“Hopefully I can take a lot of their experience in and try and learn from what they’ve done.

A knee injury which first surfaced in the pre-season ruined Feldt’s first half of 2012 and he battled to make the sizeable impact that he did in the Cowboys’ 2011 NYC grand final campaign.

The centre played seven of the first nine rounds and then missed almost three months of football before returning for six straight games at season’s end.

He still showed some ability to break a tackle and managed to surpass the 100 metres in attack mark on five occasions.

Having a couple of mates like Kaufusi and Elisala going through the same experiences over the pre-season should help the outside back settle into his new life.