Ryles, Payten head Cowboys’ hitlist as Green goes

Jason Ryles, Todd Payten and Kristian Woolf are expected to be interviewed as North Queensland begin the process of replacing Paul Green.

Melbourne Storm assistant Jason Ryles, with Craig Bellamy, is a contender for the North Queensland job. Picture: Colleen Petch.

Melbourne assistant Jason Ryles, interim Warriors coach Todd Payten and former North Queensland under-20s mentor Kristian Woolf are expected to be interviewed as North Queensland begin the process of mapping out their coaching future in coming days.

Cowboys officials will rubberstamp their plans to replace Paul Green at a board meeting later this month, but Ryles, Payten and Woolf are all likely to figure in the conversation. So too England coach Shaun Wane, who was already being mentioned as a potential addition to the coaching staff, and former Penrith and Cronulla coach Anthony Griffin.

Payten spent several years on the coaching staff at the Cowboys and has done a solid job in trying circumstances as caretaker coach at the Warriors. He remains in the mix for the permanent position, although the Cowboys job would no doubt hold appeal.

Paul Green is no longer the North Queensland coach.

As it would for Ryles, who is due to join Eddie Jones in the England rugby union set-up at the end of the season.

Ryles has been knocking on the door of a first grade job for some time and looms as one of the leading contenders in Townsville, the likelihood that he would turn his back on a switch of codes if it meant he was able to secure a head coaching job in the NRL.

Woolf hails from Mount Isa, began coaching in Townsville and spent seven years in the Cowboys system as a junior development manager and then under 20s coach. He has a strong relationship with a number of North Queensland players, most notably Jason Taumalolo through their work with the Tongan national team.

On thing is clear — the Cowboys won’t be short of options. Their roster is loaded with talent and the issue for Green was less about the ability of the playing group, and more about the inability to keep them on the park.

 

Only last weekend, the Cowboys were shorn of more than $3m worth of talent as they pushed table-topping Penrith. Chair Lewis Ramsay insisted the club was yet to begin their search for a new coach given the decision to part ways with Green was so fresh.

“We haven’t gone there yet,” Ramsay said.
“The reason being that we knew the discussion we were in over the last week and the sensitivity around that, and the high regard we have for Paul, it would have been disingenuous if we got into that detail before this was completed.

“We wanted to see Paul off with the respect that he deserves. Today is about acknowledging Paul and providing the news around him.

“I think tomorrow is about what does the recruitment and selection process look like and who is on that list. Hand on my heart, I am very genuine about that.”

Ramsay said the club would take their time, although they enter the coaching market at a time when Canterbury are poised to announce Trent Barrett and the Warriors are interviewing candidates to replace Steve Kearney on a fulltime basis.

“We will need to discuss this with the board,” he said.
“We have a board meeting laser this month. We can’t rush it. We have to make sure we cast the net as far and wide as it needs to be to find the right candidate.
“Ideally we would have a new head coach commencing for pre-season.”

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Green had another year remaining on his contract with the Cowboys but his future has been an ongoing source of speculation for more than a year. Since taking the club to a remarkable grand final appearance in 2017, the Cowboys have won only 20 games — or 34 per cent of their matches.

They finished 13th in 2018 and 14th in 2019. This year, they are languishing in 12th and have won only three of their opening 10 games.

The sense was that something had to give. Generally, that means the coach. Barely a loss went by without suggestions he needed a change, and the Cowboys in turn needed a change from him.

Green soldiered on and remarkably, his final game as coach of the Cowboys was one of their more impressive in recent seasons as they threatened to topple the league leaders, Penrith.

“Having made this announcement now gives us the ability to be transparent, open and honest, and go above board with the recruitment process,” Ramsay said.
“One thing we could never do as a club was have a script ready to go for Paul at the end of the season and then sneak around talking to candidates in the interim.”