The hard truth Cowboys must address to revive finals hopes
The Cowboys have enjoyed a much better start to their NRL season than their dismal 2023 campaign, but one key area is holding them back from being true premiership contenders.
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For a team leading the NRL in tries, try assists and linebreaks, the Cowboys sure don’t look like world-beaters right now.
North Queensland succumbed to its second loss of the season on Saturday at the hands of an under-fire Parramatta outfit fighting to keep its season alive, and Todd Payten’s presser felt like Groundhog Day.
Too many errors.
Poor decision-making.
We need to get better. We need to improve. We need to play for 80 minutes.
Saturday’s solemn assessment from the 2022 Dally M Coach of the Year would have been a frustrating watch for the team’s faithful supporters because they’ve heard it all before.
It’s hard to fault a team that has a 4-2 record and sits inside the top four of the standings – especially after last year’s horror opening months – but the weakest area of the Cowboys’ game hasn’t shown improvement.
Only the Rabbitohs and Sea Eagles have made more errors than the Cowboys’ 70 mistakes through the first six rounds of the season.
North Queensland made 16 errors in round 2 against Newcastle, somehow escaping with a 21-20 golden point victory after trailing 12-0 at the break.
Payten blasted his side for putting pressure on themselves with errors, especially within their own half.
“Happy to get away with a win. I wouldn’t say we deserved it but we found a way,” Payten said.
“We didn’t play well. We turned the ball over seven times on play one, and we were there (trapped on our goal line) because of our own doing.
“We got away with that one. Plenty to work on, we’ll address the work-ons tomorrow and execute that throughout the week.”
It was a similar tale in round 3 when an error-laden Cowboys found themselves trailing the Dragons 18-4 after 20 minutes before scoring 42 consecutive points to win emphatically.
North Queensland only made seven errors this time, but Payten insisted that wouldn’t be good enough against the top sides.
“We weren’t able to defend our errors which we need to nail down against the elite teams,” he said. “We’re off the pace, if you’re talking about the elite teams from last year. We’ve got to improve and improve quickly.”
Payten’s theory was proved correct the following week during the Cowboys’ worst performance of the season so far, making a shocking 18 errors in a 38-12 drubbing in Brisbane.
Fullback Scott Drinkwater’s five handling errors contributed to 17 from the Cowboys back five, giving the Broncos far too many opportunities to attack.
Drinkwater and Kangaroos centre Valentine Holmes – two typically reliable players – now find themselves tied-fifth in the competition with 11 errors each.
Payten signalled a drastic change would come following the 38-12 defeat at Lang Park.
“So disappointed. That’s our biggest game of the year and we gave the opposition too many shots inside our half,” Payten said.
“We couldn’t beat the Temora Dragons like that. It’s a real reality check about some of our football. I didn’t see this coming.
“Our back five made 14 errors throughout the game. We have two full days of training, plus captain’s run. We have work to do. There are teams who make errors and are able to defend them.”
The Cowboys were back in the winner’s circle in round 5, but again 12 errors invited the Gold Coast back into the game.
Despite promises of improvement it was more of the same against the Eels on Saturday night and Payten warned the competition to watch out once they clean up this aspect of their game.
“We made 12 errors for the game, way too high,” Payten said.
“We’ve got to make better decisions. Once we get that right, look out.”
It’s a miracle that a team that ranks 15th in completion rate still sits so high on the table, and the Cowboys now need to walk the walk in terms of improvements.
Sometimes running hard and tackling harder just isn’t enough, the Cowboys need to take better care of the ball going forward.
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Originally published as The hard truth Cowboys must address to revive finals hopes
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