PAYTEN GETTING COWBOYS UP TO SPEED
THE North Queensland Cowboys have been one of the NRL’s biggest disappointments over the past three years. After winning the 2015 premiership and losing the 2017 grand final to Melbourne, there has been little joy for the Cowboys since. They have recorded three straight bottom four finishes which led to the sacking of premiership-winning coach Paul Green in July.
Green has been replaced by former Cowboys assistant and Wests Tigers premiership-winning player Todd Payten. Payten guided the New Zealand Warriors to 10th spot in the 2020 season after taking over from sacked coach Stephen Kearney.
He earned many accolades for his efforts with the Warriors, which helped him secure his first full-time NRL head coach role at the Cowboys.
You did a great job with the
Warriors last year after they were forced to relocate to Australia for most of the season. What did you learn from that experience?
I learnt a few lessons out of last year. The first one was human connection and happiness is so important. We had some challenges along the way with players missing families and those things. We did our best to make sure we were enjoying our jobs by turning up every day in the right frame of mind and mood.
You retired from the NRL in 2011 and went straight into coaching the Tigers’ under-20s the next year. Is coaching all you have ever wanted to do?
When I was 27 or so I really started to think about the game and my future a little differently. I always thought about the game and tried to pick apart teams, their strengths and weaknesses. I had a good relationship with Tim Sheens, and he encouraged me to go down that path. I did some pathways coaching while I was playing in the NSW Cup system at the Tigers. Straight out of retirement I took on the under-20s and was very fortunate to get a job that high up the food chain.
When you were considering applying for the Cowboys job, what changes did you think had to be made at the club?
From a footy point of view, I can put it as simply as needing to move faster. Across the board we can carry the ball harder into the line and the way we move defensively, particularly getting off the line, is a real focus area for us, as well as everything we do post-contact.
You haven’t secured any significant player signings yet. Is the squad you have good enough to make genuine improvements?
It is. We just need to stay fit in key areas. Michael Morgan is a big part of that. We have a number of senior players and a lot of kids from 0-50 games of NRL experience and not much in between. Over the years it’s become a young man’s sport, but it’s also a mature body’s sport and mentality needed.
Michael Morgan had a terrible year with shoulder issues which threatened to end his career. How is he tracking?
Everything is suggesting he will be all right. He has done all of our contact and quite a bit of tackling.
After three straight bottom four finishes, what can we expect from the Cowboys in 2021?
The game has evolved, especially with the rule changes, and I don’t think the club evolved their style of footy. That’s what I’ll be implementing, a real change in the way we do things, playing more eyesup footy, games become about fatigue and pressure at the ruck.