Coach is ready to shake the place up
Payten says side can make the eight but changes vital
TODD Payten is adamant the Cowboys can be a topeight contender next season.
But to get there, they are going to have to blow it up and start again.
The coach has been at the club for three weeks, and while pre-season doesn’t start until November 23, he has already seen a stream of his first grade squad return to the training field.
There were about 12 players, including one former Maroons State of Origin star, training on the back field of the club yesterday as the coach delivered his first address in Cowboys colours.
It was a frank and candid message from Payten as he admitted the football department had to shake up its systems.
“From where we are to where we need to get to, we need all hands on deck in terms of our playing roster to be able to develop our own style and have everyone on the same page with that,” Payten said.
“We just have to get some work done, we have to change a lot of things with the way we play footy. Our skillset, our catch and pass, draw and pass. A lot of the stuff we do in the tackle needs to improve.
“On the most part we need to move faster when we carry the ball and move defensively.
“We are going to have to (change it). There will be a lot of change, it will be a reboot from a footy perspective … (the message is) move faster. It will evolve, we will start with the foundation of fundamentals first and foremost, and we will get them fit and as quick as possible. Then we will move into more of a game scenario.”
While he is still on the hunt for a final player to add to the 30-man first grade squad – hopefully “an outstanding outside back” – the coach said he backed the squad he had largely adopted from last season.
Former Warrior Lachlan Burr is the only player the coach has added to the roster, while he fought tooth and nail to keep young half Jake Clifford and strike centre Esan Marsters.
Payten worked with a fair portion of the squad in his first stint at the Cowboys as an assistant coach under Paul Green, and he said he had belief in the players that were there despite poor performances in the past two seasons.
The 41-year-old will have his work cut out for him after the side finished 14th last season, but there is an air of confidence around the coach and staff he has put together.
“There is a lot of guys here that have come through the system that I am not too familiar with. I am quite excited about those guys, they are highly talented, they just need to be coached well and developed into first graders as soon as possible,” he said.
“I know it is a results-based business and I am confident we have a strong squad. From my point of view, I want to see us fight, show some resilience and show some character. (They need to) be willing to fight for the bloke next to them, be connected and enjoy each other’s company. That will show in the way we play.
“I can’t comment on what was happening here before, I
can only judge the players and staff around what we do from here on in. I guess that is part of my first message to the players, whatever happened in the past we can’t control, it is what we do now.
“When you tend to lose some games, you find a way to lose games. It is the same when you win games. As long as we have the belief in the group, we can turn it around quick.”
Payten is yet to sink his teeth into the set-up and structure of the pre-season as he waits for assistant coach Steve Georgallis to emerge from quarantine and join the club.
Georgallis is the final piece of the puzzle for a completely refreshed football department under the e leadership of Micheal al Luck. The change in staff aff also includes new recruitcruitment manager er
Dane Campbell, assistant coaches Georgallis, Dean Young and Ben Rauter while club legend Paul Bowman returns to his role as head of high performance at th the club.
““It is a reset, it is a whole new set of c coaching staff, new calls, new field set-u set-up. It is complete pletely new for the play players and a complete pletely new message from the staff,” Payt Payten said.