Kyle Feldt not happy with St Helens’ ‘direction’ as early release explained

Kyle Feldt has explained that he left St Helens because he was no longer enjoying his rugby league, something he has put down to playing under Paul Rowley.

Last month St Helens announced that Feldt had left the club after being granted a release with the official stated reason being ‘personal matters’, with the winger returning home to Australia.

It was recently revealed that he’s made the switch to Australian Rules Football though he’s made clear that he’s not necessarily done with rugby league, just that he was no longer enjoying it in England.

He’s still the club’s leading try-scorer in Super League this year and ended his 18-month spell at St Helens with 33 tries in 29 games, with the majority of those coming in 2025 under Paul Wellens.

Speaking to the Townsville Bulletin about why he left the club, Feldt admitted that his expectations were greater than the reality but that hadn’t mattered when Paul Wellens was in charge at St Helens.

“It was cold, dark, wet, annoying but yeah, it was work, I,” Feldt admitted.

“When I left here my expectations were a lot higher than the reality, I guess, and I think that’s why I ended up leaving a little bit earlier than my contract.

“At the end of the day, it was a decision I made solely on my own bat.”

Why Kyle Feldt left St Helens

As for why he made that decision, he said: “The first 12 months was unreal, I really enjoyed it, and then once Paul Wellens left it kind of all changed, and I wasn’t really enjoying it.

“I always said once I stopped enjoying rugby league, I’d step away from it for a bit, and that came a little bit earlier than I expected.”

He did confirm that he is still open to playing rugby league, adding: “The door’s still open for me to do whatever I want. I’m just down here to keep fit, and if someone rings, I’ll be there.”

Feldt also appeared as a guest on Triple M radio, citing the club’s ‘direction’ as something he did not like: “Things started to change in a direction that I didn’t really like the way it was going.

“Instead of trying to see it out and go with things that I didn’t really agree with, I thought why not just, I guess, leave on my own terms and the club were very like, I guess, forgoing with it as well so they kind of agreed.”

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