Success all in mind for focused Feldt
KYLE Feldt knows his biggest enemy is often between his ears.
But the Cowboys winger has credited the use of a sports psychologist for helping him stop dropping his bundle after dropping balls.
Feldt made two errors early in Friday’s 22- 14 win over Wests Tigers, but regained his composure to score two tries in four minutes to spark a second- half comeback.
However, the Cowboys are still to secure a finals berth before Thursday’s home blockbuster with Bris- bane after St George Illawarra upset Penrith 16- 14 on Sunday.
A fortnight ago Feldt told the Townsville Bulletin he had been working hard to erase early errors from his mind as it had caused a snowball effect in games.
But clearly a bit of time with the shrink has worked wonders for the 25- year- old.
“That’s just maturing as a player,” Feldt said.
“I was just speaking to Coops ( teammate Gavin Cooper) and he reckons 10 weeks ago I would have gone into my own shell.
“I’ve been doing work away from footy with my mental stuff and my partner has helped me out at home.
“We’ve got a sports psychologist up here and he helps out a fair bit. I have a yarn to him and gives me little things to do at home, it seems to be working.
“If I’m thinking ‘ oh s-- t, here we go again’, it’s going to stay in my head.
“The things I’ve been practising to just put it out of my head ( helped a lot).”
For the second time this year, Feldt and halfback Michael Morgan combined to pull a game out of the fire.
Moments after scoring his first try, Feldt sensed an opportunity and drifted infield. He was rewarded when he latched onto a pinpoint cross field grubber from Morgan to give the Cowboys the lead.
It was reminiscent of when Feldt plucked a Morgan cross field kick to give North Queensland a lastgasp victory over Penrith in round 16.
“I just had a look and I saw ( Tigers fullback) Jame Tedeco on the other side of the ruck. I pushed up in case I was needed and lucky enough I had enough speed to get there,” Feldt said.
Cowboys coach Paul Green praised Feldt for getting back on the horse with their season effectively on the line.
“He’s one of the best in our team under the high ball, it’s just when he overthinks it,” Green said.
“If he stays out head, he’ll be right.
“In the past, if he’s had an error he’s dwelt on it, which doesn’t do the team any good.
“I’ve said to him many times, ‘ I need you playing mate and you can’t do much about it if you make an error’. He did that tonight.” of his
Feldt will clash with Corey Oates in Thursday’s blockbuster against Brisbane in Townsville.
In round 11 last year Feldt effectively squandered a chance to make his Origin debut with an error- riddled display, but insists he has moved on.
“Me and Corey go way back. We’ve been in Origin camp together and he’s a good bloke, but it’s always fun to throw a bit of chat at him and get into each other,” he said.
“Basically, I played myself out of that ( Origin) against them last time at home. But that’s in the past, I’m not really fussed about it.
“I’m not going to dwell on it. I had my opportunity and didn’t take it and if it comes again I’ll grab it.”