Pressure on Todd Payten after under-fire North Queensland Cowboys embarrassed again
North Queensland must make some bold decisions this week to turn around the side’s stunning drop in form. With results slipping and pressure mounting, just how safe is Todd Payten’s job?
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North Queensland must make some bold decisions this week to turn around the side’s stunning drop in form over the last two months.
After a red-hot streak of four wins, the Cowboys have tasted victory just once since April 26, as well as conceding 100 points over the last fortnight with heavy defeats to the Dolphins and Roosters.
The Cowboys now have the worst points differential in the NRL, sitting at -140 after conceding 426 points in 14 games.
North Queensland’s flimsy defence has been unable to hold out the opposition while the toothless attack looks directionless, making far too many errors.
The last time the Cowboys made less than 11 errors in a game was back in round 2, only making nine mistakes during a 36-12 loss to the Sharks in Townsville.
Payten said it has been the team’s biggest issue in 2025.
“Without sounding like a broken record, (we’re) putting too much pressure on ourselves again,” Payten said.
“Three yardage errors early in the game – one after three minutes, the second one after seven – puts us straight on the back foot.
“We’re leading the competition in yardage errors and it puts far too much pressure on our D (defence).
“There are moments where we could be better there, but we’re just having to do too much and giving the opposition (too much possession), and week after week it’s the same thing at the moment.”
When it’s the same message every week, with the same issues plaguing the team over the last three seasons, questions have to be asked.
THE SEASON SO FAR
North Queensland’s rollercoaster season began with three double-digit defeats to Manly, Cronulla and Brisbane.
The Cowboys’ spluttering attack found some rhythm in round 4 with an impressive 30-20 win over the Canberra Raiders, going on to win four straight.
But the hot streak couldn’t last, coughing up 28 points to the Warriors in the first half during a 30-26 loss that launched the club’s recent woes.
Since April 26, the Cowboys have just one win – a 32-28 triumph over the Tigers which almost fell away during a final-quarter capitulation – and one draw to go with five defeats.
In the past three weeks North Queensland has been outscored 138-26, with a clean 100 points conceded in the last fortnight alone.
PLAYER INTERRUPTIONS
Every year the Cowboys lose players to State of Origin.
As one of four Queensland clubs, it’s almost a given that at least a handful of stars will be plucked out of Townsville for six Origin-affected rounds per season.
It’s something the club plans for and is usually adept at navigating.
A stone-faced Payten refused to use the Origin period as an excuse after Sunday’s embarrassing defeat in Sydney.
“It’s not an excuse. Far from it. Nup. Not a contributing factor one little bit,” Payten said.
“Look at some other teams across the competition, they’re handling it perfectly and we’ve done so in the past, so (it’s) irrelevant.”
However, adding pressure to North Queensland’s expected absences has been the mounting toll of injuries and suspensions.
Having already lost Heilum Luki and Tom Chester for the season, persistent calf injuries to talismanic forward Jason Taumalolo aren’t helping a forward pack lacking punch.
Taumalolo will miss another 4-6 weeks after sustaining a new injury to the same calf, but the return of Reuben Cotter and Reece Robson this week will be welcomed.
Robson’s return can’t come quickly enough after backup hooker Karl Lawton was hit with a grade 3 dangerous contact charge for his tackle on Siua Wong, and he is now facing two weeks on the sideline with an early guilty plea.
WHAT CAN CHANGE?
The simplest change Payten can make is to his personnel.
In his 113 games at the helm of the Cowboys, the 2022 Dally M Coach of the Year has typically resisted making reactionary changes, but how long can he wait to do something about the clearly misfiring squad?
A popular option with fans is to reinstate Tully Tigers junior Jake Clifford in the halves, taking some pressure off young gun Jaxon Purdue.
Clifford won four of his eight NRL appearances this year in the No.7 jersey, but Payten has clearly indicated that he believes Purdue in the halves is the future of the club and will be hesitant to shuffle him around.
A more drastic option could be to bring Scott Drinkwater up into the defensive line at five-eighth and shift Purdue to fullback, however Drinkwater has not worn the No.6 jersey since round 24, 2022.
Payten said the club would explore every option this week in regards to tinkering with selections.
“We’ll be considering it, yeah, definitely off the back of the last two weeks,” Payten said.
“We’ll have a look at what’s underneath and then reassess and get to work.”
WILL PAYTEN SEE OUT HIS CONTRACT?
With only one more season remaining on Payten’s contract in North Queensland, calls are growing for the coach to be shown the door.
Last week, Cowboys CEO Jeff Reibel insisted Payten had the full support of the club, but how many more embarrassing defeats can the board and fans stomach before Payten falls out of favour?
Two things that are currently keeping him safe are the lack of elite coaches available right now, and the fact this was clearly a season to rebuild.
There are only three players over the age of 30 in the squad – Jordan McLean (33), Taumalolo (32) and John Bateman (31) – with 13 of the remaining 24 players that have appeared this season aged 25 or younger.
“Absolutely we have faith in Todd Payten to continue,” Reibel said last week.
“The reality is, what we need to do is take our lessons from last week and be able, then, to apply what we need to apply for the Roosters this week.
“Traditionally we’ve been quite strong through the Origin period. I think Todd and his coaching staff and our playing group have navigated some of those challenges of having your leaders out of the building for the time that you do.
“One game doesn’t make a season. What makes a season is the preparation at the start of the year, the week in, week out, nature of what we’re doing, and we’ll continue to do that.”
One game might not make a season, but what about seven double-digit defeats from 14 matches?
Sunday’s meeting with the bottom-placed Titans can’t come quickly enough for a team and its coach that are equally as desperate for a win.
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