NRL 2020: How Todd Payten won over Cowboys legend Thurston to land North Queensland gig
The race for the Cowboys coaching job is over. Todd Payten edged out John Cartwright for the fight to succeed Paul Green. And it was Cowboys legend Johnathan Thurston who rubber-stamped the decision.
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Todd Payten’s appointment as Cowboys coach was sealed after he won over Johnathan Thurston with a job-interview address that prompted the North Queensland legend to declare: “He is our coach”.
News Corp can reveal the finer details of North Queensland‘s interview process - and why one specific task in the search for Paul Green’s successor convinced Thurston that Payten is the man to lead a Cowboys revival next season.
The Cowboys will formally unveil Payten as their new head coach in the coming days, with the current Warriors caretaker edging out John Cartwright, Josh Hannay and Englishman Shaun Wane in a four-way battle to succeed Green.
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Payten will ink a two or three-year extension - and he clinched the Cowboys post after a unique job-interview assignment that left Thurston highly impressed.
In the second and final round of interviews, North Queensland‘s five-man hiring committee asked the four candidates to watch footage of the first half of the Roosters’ round nine clash against the Cowboys in July.
The Cowboys started well and led 6-0, only for the Roosters to score two tries at the back end of the first half, leaving North Queensland trailing 12-6 at half-time.
The Cowboys committee ordered Payten, Cartwright, Hannay and Wane to go away and analyse the footage. They were given four days to formulate a response and simulate what they would say to Cowboys players at half-time to trigger a second-half riposte.
Hannay, as the assistant coach at the time to Paul Green, arguably had a head start.
For the record, the Roosters went on to thump the Cowboys 42-16. But Payten’s address to the Cowboys hiring committee, talking to them as if they were North Queensland players in the sheds, sealed the deal.
Cartwright, Hannay and Wane completed their individual addresses via Zoom conference. All three did a good job. Then Payten stepped up.
He was not only analytical with his description of the Cowboys’ first-half errors, but posed some questions to the group to get them thinking on how to fix the issues, rather than dictating how they should be fixed.
Thurston, his player’s cap on, liked Payten’s delivery. There was no attack on the individual, rather an earnest style that would subtly challenge a player to get his act together.
After Payten hung up, Thurston was blown away. “He is our coach,” Thurston told the Cowboys’ hiring committee, who were equally impressed.
The four contenders were also asked to analyse North Queensland’s Achilles heel in recent years - their dismal defence. Each candidate was then asked to detail their weaknesses.
Payten told the committee he had previously struggled with a clarity of message. He told them he had a habit of waffling on as a young coach. But his stint at the Cowboys in 2015 as an assistant to Green, and his time as head coach at the Warriors, had taught him how to distil a strong message to players.
Ironically, there is a fascinating narrative involving Payten and Thurston. They were rivals in the 2005 grand final, with Payten breaking Thurston’s heart when, as a bench player, he scored a last-minute try to seal Wests Tigers’ 30-16 defeat of the Cowboys.
Now the duo are re-united, with Thurston adamant Payten can bring a fresh premiership touch to Townsville.