NRL 2021: Q&A with North Queensland Cowboys coach Todd Payten

New Cowboys coach Todd Payten takes the reins with the club glued to the bottom of the well and no significant player signings. Where does the improvement come from?

The North Queensland Cowboys have been one of the NRL’s biggest disappointments over the past three years. After winning the 2015 premiership and losing the 2017 grand final to Melbourne, there has been little joy for the Cowboys since. They have recorded three straight bottom four finishes which led to the sacking of premiership-winning coach Paul Green in July.

Green has been replaced by former Cowboys assistant and Wests Tigers premiership-winning player Todd Payten. Payten guided the New Zealand Warriors to 10th spot in the 2020 season after taking over from sacked coach Stephen Kearney. He earned many accolades for his efforts with the Warriors which helped him secure his first full-time NRL head coach role at the Cowboys. Payten tells TRAVIS MEYN about what is wrong with the Cowboys and how he plans to fix the pride of the north.

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Todd Payten’s start to NRL coaching was a baptism by fire in 2020, but he will be a better coach because of it at the Cowboys. Picture: Shae Beplate.

You did a great job with the Warriors last year after they were forced to relocate to Australia for most of the season. What did you learn from that unique experience?

I learnt a few lessons out of last year. The first one was human connection and happiness is so important. We had some challenges along the way with players missing families and those things. We did our best to make sure we were enjoying our jobs by turning up every day in the right frame of mind and mood. Spending all that time together, I got to know those guys really well on a personal level. That benefited my ability to be able to connect, coach and be honest with them. When players are happy off the field they play well. Their wellbeing is a really important part of coaching. Communication is a massive key.

You retired from the NRL in 2011 and went straight into coaching the Tigers’ under-20s the next year. Is coaching all you have ever wanted to do?

When I was 27 or so I really started to think about the game and my future a little differently. I always thought about the game and tried to pick apart teams, their strengths and weaknesses. I had a good relationship with Tim Sheens and he encouraged me to go down that path. I did some pathways coaching while I was playing in the NSW Cup system at the Tigers. Straight out of retirement I took on the under-20s and was very fortunate to get a job that high up the food chain. It was something I really wanted to do. I’m here now because of him and the way it all panned out.

You’ve coached a lot of junior teams along the way. Is development coaching one of your strengths and something that will help at the Cowboys?

I think it will help. We’ve got some elite kids at the club that are around 18-20. My progression as a coach has been in the pathways system. I know how important it is to get the fundamentals right and teach them how to be professional. I’ll lean on the leadership group and senior guys to demonstrate how to do things properly. I’m pretty confident about the group we’ve got. We’re just going to have to all get our jobs done.

When you were considering applying for the Cowboys job, what changes did you think had to be made at the club?

From a footy point of view, I can put it as simply as needing to move faster. Across the board we can carry the ball harder into the line and the way we move defensively, particularly getting off the line, is a real focus area for us as well as everything we do post-contact. There’s quite a bit to work on which will take some time. There will be a heap of change from what they’re used to. I know they will come in and take it on.

Michael Morgan played just 6 games for the Cowboys in 2020, and they’ll need him on the field a lot more to compete in 2021. Picture: Alix Sweeney.

You haven’t secured any significant player signings yet. Is the squad you have good enough to make genuine improvements next year?

It is, we just need to stay fit in key areas. Michael Morgan is a big part of that. We have a number of senior players and a lot of kids from 0-50 games of NRL experience and not much in between. That puts pressure on the senior guys to stay fit and the younger guys have to do their job, which is difficult at times. Over the years it’s become a young man’s sport, but it’s also a mature body’s sport and mentality needed. We need some things to go our way but I’m really confident with what we’ve got there. We just have to knuckle down and get it right. We’ve only got a short time together before we start trialling, but I’m really confident in my ability and the staff we’re bringing in.

Michael Morgan had a terrible year with shoulder issues which threatened to end his career, how is he tracking?

Everything is suggesting he will be all right. He has done all of our contact and quite a bit of tackling. He has had some sore moments but he is going to be sore. He has to deal with that. Unless there is a hiccup, we are expecting him to play round one.

After three straight bottom four finishes, what is the mood of the club like and what state is it in? What can we expect from the Cowboys in 2021?

That’s a difficult one. I wasn’t here and don’t want to speculate. I just watched their footy and it hadn’t really changed a great deal in a long time. The game has evolved, especially with the rule changes, and I don’t think the club evolved their style of footy. That’s what I’ll be implementing, a real change in the way we do things, playing more eyes-up footy, games become about fatigue and pressure at the ruck. I know with the forward pack we have we can roll down the field well enough and create enough ruck speed. It’s about the smarter and faster guys within our team being able to capitalise on that by knowing what to look for and connecting with each other. The better sides of the competition, the Roosters, Raiders, Penrith, really adapted well to those changes. We will have to adapt quickly to be able to compete.

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