‘Gone are the days of it being a fortress’: Feldt challenges North Queensland Cowboys

Kyle Feldt has called on his teammates to take more pride in their home performances while Todd Payten confirmed five Origin stars were “good to go” for Sunday. Read the latest from Cowboys HQ.

A frustrated Kyle Feldt demanded a change in attitude from his fellow Cowboys players as they hold onto a top eight position by a thread. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Cowboys winger Kyle Feldt has called on his teammates to take more pride in their home performances and return North Queensland to the rugby league stronghold it once was.

The Cowboys have now lost four of their last five games in Townsville and risk losing three in a row when they host the in-form Bulldogs on Sunday evening.

North Queensland has a dream run home with five of the last seven games at home and a round 25 bye thrown in for good measure, but if the current trend continues the golden opportunity could be wasted.

A frustrated Feldt demanded a change in attitude from his fellow Cowboys players as they hold onto a top eight position by a thread.

“We can have as many home games as we want, we have to win them,” Feldt said.

Kyle Feldt of the Cowboys runs the ball during round 18. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

“I think we’ve only won two of the last six at home, so gone are the days of it being a fortress – we need to turn that around and start making it a fortress again.

“I remember a lot of teams used to hate coming up here and I think nowadays people love coming up here because they obviously think they have a good chance of winning.

“We need to turn that around and that’s something that we need to start taking a little more pride in.”

Sunday will be a perfect chance to correct their wayward form as they welcome back five State of Origin stars for the clash.

Todd Payten said while the team’s poor execution at home hadn’t explicitly been discussed, it was something he was very astute to. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)

Cowboys coach Todd Payten said while the team’s poor execution at home hadn’t explicitly been discussed, it was something he was very astute to.

“We haven’t really spoken about it but I’m aware of it. I’m sure the players have got an understanding of it,” Payten said.

“We can’t rely on the home crowd advantage getting us over the line, we’ve got to do our part around all the effort parts of our game.

“Scramble, scrap and fight and make the opposition earn every part of what they get out of our game.”

Samoan winger Murray Taulagi was ruled out of the clash with Braidon Burns named to replace him, but Payten said shifting Valentine Holmes from centre to wing had “always been a consideration”.

When Jason Taumalolo takes the field he will equal Matt Bowen for the second most Cowboys appearances at 270 games.

Jason Taumalolo takes the field he will equal Matt Bowen for the second most Cowboys appearances at 270 games. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Payten said it was an unbelievable achievement from his star forward.

“He’s a middle forward and he’s played a lot of game time in a lot of those games,” Payten said.

“He’s heading towards the back end of his career but he’s still got a lot of footy ahead of him and for him to punch out 270 games in the middle, and the way he plays, it’s a tremendous effort.

“His form over the past five or six weeks has been really good and we’re looking for him to build upon that.”

The Cowboys host the Bulldogs on Sunday, kick-off is at 6.15pm.

Originally published as ‘Gone are the days of it being a fortress’: Feldt challenges North Queensland Cowboys