Kyle Laybutt (born 26 September 1995) is a retired

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played as a and for the Townsville Blackhawks in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

. He previously played for the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

. In 2024 Kyle made his debut for the Indigenous All Stars

Background

Laybutt was born in

Bundaberg, Queensland Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situated along the southern bank of the Burnett ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, and is of Indigenous and Papua New Guinean descent. He played junior rugby league for the Western Suburbs Panthers and attended Bundaberg State High School.

Playing career

Early career

In 2011, Laybutt was a member of the Central United Cyril Connell Cup team. In 2012, he was a part of the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

SG Ball Cup The S. G. Ball Cup is a junior rugby league football competition played predominantly in New South Wales, between teams made up of male players aged under 19. Teams from Canberra and Melbourne, and Auckland also participate. Prior to the COVID ...

summer squad but did not play a game for the club. He returned to Queensland in 2013 and played for Central United's Mal Meninga Cup team. That year he played for the Queensland under-18 Maroons in their win over the New South Wales Country Under-18s team. In 2015, Laybutt joined the

Holden Cup (Under-20s) team mid-season, playing 16 games and scoring 10 tries. Despite playing just half the season, he earned an NRL-contract with the club, signing a two-year deal. He joined North Queensland's NRL squad in 2016 and spent the season playing for their feeder club, the Townsville Blackhawks, in the

2017

On 11 February, Laybutt kicked the game-winning field goal in an 11-10 pre-season trial win over the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

. After starting the season once again with the Blackhawks, Laybutt represented the Queensland Residents, scoring a try in their 36-6 win over the New South Wales Residents team. In Round 15 of the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

, Laybutt made his NRL debut against the

Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

AAMI Park The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, currently known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the suburb of East Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victor ...

. On 6 September, he re-signed with the North Queensland club until the end of the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

2018

Laybutt spent the 2018 season playing for North Queensland's feeder club, the Mackay Cutters. On 13 September 2018, he was announced by North Queensland as one of nine players leaving the club at the end of the 2018 season. On 6 October, Laybutt came off the bench for the PNG Prime Minister's XIII and scored a try in their loss to the Prime Minister's XIII.

2021

In 2021, Laybutt underwent pre-season training with North Queensland before returning to the Blackhawks. He later re-joined North Queensland's squad on a training contract until the end of the season and was named as a reserve in their Round 14 game against Manly.

2025

On 8 January 2025, Laybutt announced his retired from the NRL.

Statistics

NRL

Reserve Grade

References

External links

North Queensland Cowboys profile
1995 births Living people Australian people of Papua New Guinean descent Australian rugby league players Indigenous All Stars players 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Mackay Cutters players North Queensland Cowboys players Papua New Guinea national rugby league team captains Papua New Guinea national rugby league team players PNG Prime Minister's XIII players Queensland Residents rugby league team players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Bundaberg Townsville Blackhawks players 21st-century Australian sportsmen {{PapuaNewGuinea-rugbyleague-bio-stub