Cowboys pre-season hub: PBs, new tactics and standout players
Todd Payten revealed a raft of changes the side would see in 2024 in his latest update on North Queensland’s pre-season. Catch up on all the news coming out of Cowboys HQ.
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Todd Payten has lifted the lid on a raft of strategic changes that will alter the way the Cowboys play in 2024.
The writing was on the wall that North Queensland were looking to implement change when Payten brought in two new assistant coaches in Justin Morgan and James Maloney.
Payten said that the inability to evolve the game style that saw success in 2022 ultimately hurt the Cowboys’ hopes of a finals berth.
“With the new staff members that we’ve got, they’ve got their own fresh ideas and some strong ideas,” Payten said.
“There’ll be some subtle changes that some people will be able to see and some people won’t, and there’ll be some real significant changes that will be clear for everyone to see.”
JUSTIN MORGAN TO SHORE UP EDGES
The two new coaches have each brought in ideas to address the team’s leaky defence and unlock the strike backrowers at the Cowboys’ disposal.
“The difference in our (defensive) system this year, we’ll be a little bit more calm and I wouldn’t say passive, but patient with the decisions that we’re making,” Payten said.
“Some of our movements on the edge will be a little bit different too. And then (Morgan) has put a lot of work into our tackling and the work that we do on the ground.
“So some really good stuff down in the combat room. They’re working really hard.”
UNLOCKING COWBOYS BACKROWERS
The Cowboys mentor said 37-year-old Maloney offered something different to the squad.
“Jimmy’s been on the ground here for three weeks now. He’s been a good fit for Morgs and myself, he’s a different dynamic, a different character,” Payten said.
“Morgs and I have been in the coaching game now for a long time so we can tend to be a little bit short and grumpy whereas he’s a good mood-breaker for us at different stages.
“He’s got a great connection with the spine players already, he’s made us pull a little bit wider out on the edges which has opened up some things for our backrowers with a bit of early ball.
“I’ve really enjoyed having him here. He’s improved day after day and now I’m excited (to see) where both of those guys can help us and help me and take our team.”
PERSONAL BESTS FALL LIKE DOMINOES
Payten revealed 20 Cowboys players have broken personal bests in the 1.2km ‘bronco’ time trial during pre-season as North Queensland eyes a return to finals in 2024.
Links have been drawn between last year’s failings and an interrupted pre-season which saw the club’s World Cup players begin training just weeks out from the first trial game.
Payten said the team was already reaping the rewards of a return to standard practices.
“We’re six weeks ahead of where we were last year. We didn’t get nine or 10 players back until after Christmas and were chasing our tail a little bit,” Payten said.
“We’ve had 20 PBs in our 1.2km time trial in the first month, some by small margins and some by decent margins, so they worked really hard during their break and came back in decent shape and we’ve tried to build upon that.”
Payten said the Cowboys’ disappointing end to the 2023 season had spurred on his side’s renewed vigour.
“It wasn’t fun watching the finals considering we had a foot in there with a month to go, but we paid the price for a slow start,” he said.
“We worked really hard through that midpoint of the season and burned a few guys out and it just all caught up with us.
“Just sitting there watching the finals burned me and I’m sure it burned a lot of our guys and they came back with a better look in their eyes.”
MORE RESTS FOR STAR PLAYERS
The North Queensland coach said that he would look for more opportunities to rest State of Origin stars after watching his best players run out of steam towards the end of the season after a demanding 12 months of rugby league.
“I would have liked to have had the luxury to rest our Origin players,” Payten said.
“I know that that caught up with a couple of them, in particular with a few games to go.”
PRE-SEASON BOLTER
Sam McIntyre is one player that could rapidly rise up the pecking order after catching eyes at training.
The utility middle forward made two appearances off the interchange for the Cowboys in 2023 and Payten indicated he could figure into team plans for round 1.
“Sam McIntyre has done some really good things. He’s a point of difference for us through the middle,” Payten said.
“He’s got some speed, he ballplays at speed and he’s a bit of a link between the ruck and the edge.
“He competes pretty hard and he can set the tone physically for our sessions, so I’m pretty impressed with what he’s done so far.”
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