Ipswich Jets: Cup gains and losses for 2024

Three years ago, Ipswich Jets playmaker Kyle Foxwell walked away from the game of rugby league in need of a break.

It was 2021 and his 2020 season had already ended prematurely due to COVID-19. When he returned to the training paddock, it quickly became evident to him that he needed more time away.

But that break turned out to be the best decision for Foxwell. In his return season in 2022, he was crowned the Brisbane Rugby League player of the year. In 2023, he made his Hostplus Cup debut with Wynnum Manly Seagulls.

And, as he prepares to go into season 2024 with the Jets, he has now gained valuable experience after NRL pre-seasons with not one, but two clubs.

To be here today is a bit of a “pinch me” moment for the 24-year-old.

“It’s been a pretty interesting journey,” Foxwell said.

“I was at the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Mal Meninga system and went into the Cup system but never played a game for Cup.

“I had the COVID year off footy and then I went back to Redcliffe for pre-season but had lost the love of footy a bit. I had a year off rugby league and played rugby union instead.

“Then, in 2022, Tye Ingebrigtsen was coaching Wests Panthers at the time (with his dad, Craig ‘Trigger’ Ingebrigtsen) so he reached out and got me back to Wests. I regained my love for footy through that.

“Trigger and Tye, they obviously saw something in me from previous years about the footy player I was and could be, and they just instilled that confidence in myself.

“They made me feel like I was one of the best halves in the comp. They made me believe that and I ended up playing like that.

“I’m really proud of myself for the way that I’ve come back. I’ve always been a hard worker.

“I’ve never really been gifted anything so it shows that if you need the time away, you take it, but if you come back, work hard and stick to something, you never know what can arise.”

While Foxwell enjoyed his time at Wynnum Manly and is grateful for the club giving him his start in Cup, the opportunities that came from joining Ipswich this year were too big to resist.

Jets Cup coach Ben Cross reached out to Foxwell last year and explained to him the potential he saw in him.

He also floated the opportunity to go down to the Sydney Roosters for six weeks in pre-season and for Foxwell, it was a chance he had to grab with two hands.

“It was my first NRL experience,” he said.

“At 24, it was pretty good to finally get an opportunity in that sort of space, learning off all the players down there, they have a wealth of experience.

“Every day, every single training session, you’ve got to be switched on. You have to be really focused and zoned in every time you take the training field and that’s the way you make sure you’re going to get better.”

Fresh off his experience with the Roosters, Foxwell joined Jets pre-season for two weeks after the Christmas break before an unexpected Friday call brought him back to the NRL.

The Gold Coast Titans – in a new partnership with the Jets – wanted Foxwell for a two-week train-and-trial.

That turned into another two weeks. Then he played in one trial with the club. And then a second.

“It was unreal,” Foxwell said of his experiences with the Titans.

“It was definitely a dream come true… I’ll take everything I’ve learnt in the pre-season and take back what I can.

“Learning everything under (coach) Des Hasler and (half) Kieran Foran at the Titans, they really simplify your role and you see footy in a different way.

“It makes you confident that you can go out there and help the players around you and makes you pretty clear with what you need to do.

"After the pre-season I’ve had, I think I can now set a pretty high goal of achieving the NRL. If that opportunity presented itself, I’d take it."

Foxwell is now back at the Jets ahead of their Round 1 clash with the Townsville Blackhawks on Saturday, March 9.

Last season was a tough one for Ipswich, who went through the year without recording a single win.

But the club have recruited strongly in the off-season, bringing in Foxwell and fellow half Kyle Coghill, as well as former Western Clydesdales back Bessie Toomaga and young up-and-coming fullback, Bryon Johnson.

The club are determined to put 2023 behind them and, as a new face, Foxwell is ready and willing to help.

“It’s a clean slate for everyone here,” Foxwell said.

“Everyone is there to show what they can do and no one is guaranteed a position, I believe. I believe we can go out there with everything to prove and nothing to lose. It should be pretty exciting.”

Ipswich Jets 2024 gains and losses

Gains

Jack Bishop (Canberra Raiders), Jared Chambers (Norths Devils), Kyle Coghill (Norths Devils), Kyle Foxwell (Wynnum Manly Seagulls), Jack Garrod (Penrith Panthers), Sam Inoke (Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs), Byron Johnson (Souths Logan Magpies), KJ Kali (Norths Devils), Luke Maddaford (Wynnum Manly Seagulls), Jordan Penquitt (Brisbane Tigers), Caelys Putoko (New Zealand), Tate Rhea (Canberra Raiders), Kalin Ropata (Currumbin Eagles), Bessie Toomaga (Western Clydesdales)

Losses

Denzel Burns (Western Clydesdales), Gerome Burns (Norths Devils/NRL Dolphins), Zac Chong-Nee (Wynnum Manly Seagulls), Ricco Falaniko (Brisbane Tigers), Isaac Nokes (released), Jerome Veve (Tweed Seagulls), Gordon Whippy (Wests Tigers)