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Cowboys winger Kyle Feldt had a mixed night against the Broncos in Round 11.

Over the first 10 rounds of the NRL Telstra Premiership he possessed some of the competition's safest hands.

With the exception of Wests Tigers' Jordan Rankin (zero errors), no winger who played all 10 games had made fewer errors than Kyle Feldt (three).

But 15 minutes later that tally had doubled.

In his own words, Feldt has been "safe as a bank" all year, which makes Friday night's first-half meltdown even more concerning given that it was the ultimate State of Origin litmus test just four days out from team announcements for Game One.

First it was fumble off a regulation restart, then a loose carry off a hit-up, followed by another spoilt high ball.

Half-time could not come quick enough.

"'Greeny' pulled me aside [in the sheds] and just said that the first half was done and dusted, so forget about it; just go out there and make the next involvement the best involvement," Feldt said.

"I think I caught a high ball as the next one. They kicked it straight to me and I swallowed it up and after that I got the confidence back and didn't look back.

"I thought I'd been safe as a bank [this year]. But everyone makes mistakes, and the good thing about NRL is that there's always another opportunity to get the ball again.

"The second half just showed that I put it out of my head and moved on."

 


The big question is whether new Queensland coach Kevin Walters harbours doubts over Feldt's mettle on the big stage, or whether he takes stock from the flawless response after half-time.

Coach Paul Green lauded that response post-game.

"I thought his second half was good," he said.

"That [first half] wasn't 'Feldty', he's one of the safest in our team.

"But sometimes that can happen and you let the little voices in your head dominate what's going on there. You've just got to clear your mind and get back to what your job is. His hands are one of his strengths as a player.

"You say 'don't think about it', but sometimes that's the worst thing you can say because it puts it right in their head.

"It's a good learning curve for him."

Co-captain Johnathan Thurston also got behind the 24-year-old winger, pushing his case for Origin duties alongside Cowboys right-edge partner Justin O'Neill.

"[Feldt] would do a good job [in Origin], if that's the way the selectors go," Thurston said.

"No doubt about it, he fought back well after those errors.

"It's handy when you are defending in those positions and you know each other's game inside-out.

"In Origin, games are won on defence and you need extremely strong edges, so no doubt if those boys get picked they will do a job for us."

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