Payten eyes a $2m reward

COWBOYS coach Todd Payten is on the verge of inking of a $2m-plus mega deal after hauling North Queensland out of the doldrums and into premiership contention.

Payten is in the final stages of negotiations with club bosses to extend his stay in Townsville in a coup for the Cowboys ahead of Friday’s grand final qualifier against Parramatta at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

Payten has emerged as one of the hottest masterminds in the code and is the front-runner to win the Dally M coachof-the-year award after taking the Cowboys from second last to title contenders in the space of 12 months.

Now North Queensland have upped the ante, with Payten in talks on a three-year extension to remain at the Cowboys until the end of 2026.

It is understood the upgrade will be worth in excess of $700,000 a season, sweet reward for Payten’s stunning transformation of the Cowboys after his turbulent rookie campaign at the club in 2021.

The 43-year-old was already contracted for another 12 months but the Cowboys are wary of poaching threats for a coach they believe has the skill set to deliver a second premiership to North Queensland.

Payten was linked to his former club Wests Tigers earlier this season, but the Cowboys mentor confirmed he is keen to finalise an extension in his plan to build a title dynasty in the tropics.

“We have started conversations (on a new deal) and it will get done when it’s done,” Payten said. “The Cowboys know I don’t want to go and I have told them the same, so we will work something out.

“I love coaching this club. “I fell in love with the town and the club very quickly the first time around (when he joined the Cowboys as under-20s coach under Paul Green in 2015).

“The Cowboys are full of good people. The club is so professional, it’s a region where rugby league means something and the people of north Queensland are my kind of people.”