Payten punted on his first 15
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Cowboys coach Todd Payten has defended the use of his bench after grinding out a tough win over Newcastle with just 15 players.
Neither Tom Chester nor Mitch Dunn entered the contest, which North Queensland won 18-16 with a final defensive stand to snap a three-game losing streak.
Tom Dearden’s try with 14 minutes remaining edged the Cowboys ahead by two which remained the final score despite a late Knights onslaught.
Reuben Cotter played 66 minutes after joining the fray from the interchange, while Jake Granville (60 minutes), Jordan Mclean (51 minutes), Coen Hess (49 minutes) and Jamayne Taunoa-brown (33 minutes) shared the front row load.
Payten said it was always his plan to use Mclean in four short stints in his return from a hamstring injury after advice from his medical team.
Jeremiah Nanai’s injury meant there was no opportunity for Chester to come on.
Nanai suffered a crusherlike injury while tackling in the first half, prompting a head injury assessment that he later passed.
“Miah’s (Nanai) injury was a cat among the pigeons,” Payten said. “It upset our plan so there goes Tommy Chester’s interchange late in the game, we had to use that one getting ‘Miah back on the pitch.
“And then with about seven or eight minutes to go we had an opportunity to put Dunny on but we just felt that we needed our most experienced and best players out on the pitch. “It never sits well with me (leaving unused players on the bench), but those two blokes, when I spoke to them they understood and they took it really well.
“They understand it’s about the team and they’re Cowboys.”
Former Cowboy Kalyn Ponga’s return to the NRL didn’t herald the result Newcastle coach Adam O’brien wanted but it sent warning signs to the rest of the competition.
After joining the game off the interchange just past the midway point of the first half, Ponga seemed to pop up everywhere in attack for the Knights.
He finished the game with 81 metres from his nine runs to go with a classy try assist, two linebreak assists and four tackle breaks.
“I thought he looked very busy, he looked dangerous (and) our connections with him will get better,” O’brien said. “There was some timing stuff there … but the more times he touched the better we were looking.
“We don’t want to lock him into one side. We’re letting him bob up everywhere and I thought he came up with a couple of nice tackles as well.”
Speaking on Fox League, Ponga said he felt good after his limited return.
“Unfortunately we didn’t ice it at the end there, we definitely had enough opportunities but we probably shot ourselves in the first half to be honest,” Ponga said.
“I was tired in the first 15 just getting back into the pace of footy, but … I feel happy to get through the game.”