Promise Broncos to aimingplay out to pay Bennett back
WINGER Kyle Feldt says the Cowboys are determined to live up to a preseason promise and play more expansive football as they look to bounce back from their worst thrashing in almost a decade.
North Queensland’s miserable season hit rock bottom in last weekend’s 42-6 loss to the Knights in Newcastle which Feldt described as “pretty embarrassing to be a part of”.
The 36-point defeat was their worst since Round 25, 2010 where they lost by 44 points against the Raiders (48-4) with the Cowboys also resigned to missing the finals for the second year in a row.
Feldt spoke back in December about his desire to play more “eyes up” footy this season after the Cowboys were criticised for being too structured and predictable as they finished 13th last year.
But that ad-lib attacking style never came to fruition with the Cowboys scoring just 15.4 points a game this season — their fewest in a season since 1998 when they averaged 15 points.
The Cowboys have also failed to score 20 points in their past seven games and they’ll be attempting to stave off their sixth loss in a row against the Panthers at 1300SMILES Stadium tomorrow night.
Feldt admitted it wasn’t a lack of opportunities that had kept the Cowboys from chancing their arm in attack and he said they were keen to start throwing the ball around against the Panthers.
“That’s something we’re all questioning ourselves. It’s there for the taking, but we’re just not taking the opportunities,” Feldt said.
“It’s quite frustrating to see it in the review after a game, see the opportunities we had, and we’re not taking them.
“It’d be good if there was no pressure at all throughout the whole year, but it’s NRL and there’s always pressure. Even if you can’t make finals you’re still playing for your fans and your pride as well.
“It’s something that we needed to fix up and hopefully we can do that for the last three games and give our fans something to cheer about.”
Young halfback Jake Clifford has been one of the few Cowboys playing with confidence in recent weeks as he’s unleashed his dangerous running game at NRL level.
Clifford has scored in backto-back games and was North Queensland’s only tryscorer in Newcastle as he vowed to keep taking the line on against the Panthers.
“If I had to pick something in my game that I like doing it’s running the ball. I do feel like I’m taking the line on a lot more, I just need to do it even more now,” Clifford said.
“We were very disappointed after the game (against the Knights), but the boys have still been very positive and we’re just really looking forward to getting back at home.”