Cowboys junior Moyle working hard for an NRL opportunity
Not playing rugby league is hard — especially when it’s the only thing you want to do. Just ask Northern Pride rising star and North Queensland Cowboys junior development player Matti Moyle.
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Not playing rugby league is hard — especially when it’s the only thing you want to do.
Just ask Northern Pride rising star Matti Moyle.
The North Queensland Cowboys junior development player was determined to have a big year with the Pride’s Mal Meninga Cup side, before graduating to the club’s Hasting Deering Colts team to finish the season.
Then, the coronavirus pandemic forced him to put his footy goals on hold.
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“I just wanted to go out there and do the best I could and compete and try and have a breakout year,” he said.
“It’s been pretty hectic. I was doing a little bit of training (during community sport’s shutdown), but it was hard trying to gym when the gyms are shut. It’s just trying to do as best you can.”
Moyle will finally get the chance to get back on the field in next month’s Lightning Challenge, a one-off rugby league series featuring two Northern Pride teams and sides from CDRL clubs Brothers Cairns and Tully Tigers.
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“It’s good to get back into it and finally start going back to normal,” he said.
A rangy forward with deceptive strength, Moyle was a standout in his first season with the Pride last year, with a willingness to roll the sleeves up and a determination to never give up.
He is hoping to follow the same path of Pride teammate and fellow Cowboys development player Heilum Luki, who is one year ahead on his development contract.
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Luki has been earmarked to join the NRL club as a rookie in the next pre-season.
“He’s obviously had a bit more development, just by looking at him, and he’s been in the system a bit longer, but we play different games, so hopefully they see that and like what I’m doing,” Moyle said.
The Darwin product described his playing style as “a bit loose and a bit rough”.
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“I’m not the best playmaker or the most freaky talent but I give it 100 per cent and go as hard as I can until the bell goes,” he said.
Moyle concedes his rugby league goals are “the same as everyone elses”, but it’s only made him realise how much harder he’s going to have to work to achieve them.
“The goal is to make the Cowboys’ top 30 and get as far as I can,” he said.
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“I’m just going to do all I can to make it — if not, at least I know I tried my hardest.”
Moyle grew up in Darwin and moved to Far North Queensland for the 2019 season after being signed by the Cowboys on a development contract.
He was first spotted by the club playing for Northern Territory Titans at an under-15s Australian schoolboys tournament in 2017, where he earned selection in the Combined Affiliated States (CAS) representative merit team.
Brisbane, Parramatta and Melbourne all took an interest in the teenage talent, before he inked a three-year agreement with North Queensland at the end of 2018.
Originally published as Cowboys junior Moyle working hard for an NRL opportunity