NRL 2022: Reassuring voice which helped Cowboys coach Todd Payten in breakthrough season
The Cowboys didn’t want Todd Payten isolated as coach — so they arranged for him to phone a friend and it has paid big dividends, writes Robert Craddock.
Rugby league is full of chest-pumping announcements, but just occasionally there’s a subtle, secret signing which can bring two men together at the perfect time.
Like former Queensland coach Michael Hagan’s long-distance mentorship of Cowboys coach Todd Payten.
Payten has been the NRL’s coach of the year, and deserves massive praise for being the architect of club’s revival with a team featuring many rejuvenated local stars and a sprinkling of imports such as Tom Dearden and Chad Townsend who have thrived under Payten’s guidance.
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As the club continues to rise in the water the praise has rightfully trickled down to fitness and recruitment staff, senior officials and assistant coaches like Dean Young.
Way down near the end of the line, sitting quietly in the shadows just where he likes to be, is the club’s invisible man, Hagan.
The former Queensland coach coached Payten in reserve grade at the Raiders in 1999 and they have stayed in contact ever since.
Payten initially wanted Hagan to join him as an assistant coach but Hagan rejected the approach because he has grandchildren in Newcastle and wanted to stay there.
But some months later the Cowboys contacted Hagan and asked whether he would be interested in a mentoring role.
True to Hagan’s understated style, the deal wasn’t even made public after he accepted it.
It was no strict secret but the privacy of it — until it leaked out mid-season — could only have helped both men relax as they had frequent discussions throughout the course of the Cowboys stunning winter.
It was smart work by the Cowboys to knock on Hagan’s door, not because he needed the job but because he didn’t.
He can float blissfully outside the system and not be a slave to it. Because he’s not working his way up as a career coach he doesn’t have to walk the treacherous line where he need to tell the coach what’s going wrong, all the while trying to stay on his good side to keep his job.
Hagan can say what he likes because he’s been there and done it and he’s not going back.
“I have really enjoyed it to be honest,’’ Hagan said.
“It has got my interest back in week to week football. It has been a really good involvement for me. Todd has done a great job and deserves all the credit he gets.’’
Hagan has seen the game and life from many angles.
In the 1980s he even worked a journalist for the Canterbury Bankstown Torch newspaper when he occasionally covered court and police matters.
Hagan has been a trusted friend and close ally of Mal Meninga’s for almost three decades and will be at his shoulder again during this year’s World Cup.
Hagan won a premiership coaching Newcastle but it took a challenging stint for Parramatta which took a heavy toll on his health for him to eventually realise he was far happier playing a supporting role to others.
He was simply exhausted coaching the Eels but talking to him now is like engaging with a different person. The spark is back.
Cowboys star charged for ugly tackle
– Matt Encarnacion
North Queensland rising star Jeremiah Nanai has escaped suspension for an ugly tackle in their win over the Warriors on Friday night.
Nanai was on Saturday morning hit with a grade-one dangerous contact charge for his hitting the knees of Warriors prop Addin Fonua-Blake in the 13th minute in Townsville.
Nanai came in from the side and hit Fonua-Blake on his right knee, drawing an angry reaction from the Tongan and New Zealand international and prompting the referee to place him on report.
It is a second offence for the Cowboys second-rower, however he will only cop an $1800 fine if he takes the early guilty plea.
Green energy inspires joyous Cowboys blitz
Paul Green was a hard marker but not even he could have found fault in these Cowboys, who celebrated the popular coach’s memory with a 48-4 beat down of the Warriors at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
The Cowboys grieved with home fans for the first time since Green’s tragic death little over a week ago, with a video tribute, moment of silence and impromptu standing ovation to pay their respects to the man who led North Queensland to its maiden premiership.
Emotion ran thick in the air and the Cowboys bottled its essence to jump out to the club’s fourth-biggest win of all time.
“Having that little bit of reflection and thought about what Greeny has done for this club was sitting in the back of all the boys minds,” North Queensland skipper Chad Townsend said.
“That definitely spurred us on to play a good game.”
Valentine Holmes became the third Cowboy to score 200 points in a season with seven conversions and a penalty goal to reach 204 this year.
Teenage backrower Jeremiah Nanai scored his 17th try of the season, tying David Fifita’s 2021 tally as the most by a forward since 1999, but will face the judiciary for recklessly attacking the knee of Warrior Addin Fonua-Blake in the 14th minute.
FAN POWER
The Cowboys honoured Green with a touching tribute but no official celebration came close to matching the emotion stoked by a fan-led initiative.
Queensland Country Bank Stadium rose as one in the 15th minute to honour Green’s role in the Cowboys 2015 premiership in a special ovation that encapsulated North Queensland’s enduring affection for the former coach.
The seed of a record-breaking night was planted then and there.
The Warriors entered the opposition red zone for the first time as the ovation began but were repelled with ease as North Queensland players found another gear in a blowout win.
“You could hear it in the background, obviously you’re focusing on the game but I did faintly hear it,” Townsend said.
“That recognition for Paul Green and what he’s done for this club is amazing. He’s left a lasting legacy and I thought it was a really great touch from the club and the fans.”
FAST START
Todd Payten challenged North Queensland to start fast and his players delivered in style, blitzing the Warriors for two tries within the opening 10 minutes.
It was the fastest start of the season for the Cowboys and set the stage for the highest scoring first half and game for the year.
“I was really pleased to play the way we played,” Payten said.
“I like the mentality behind our actions. The Warriors fought really hard to stay in the contest at 12-4 and that try right before halftime probably broke them a little bit.”
Aggression in defence opened the door to a try inside five minutes, when a Cowboys gang tackle forced Dallin Watene-Zelezniak behind the in-goal.
Failure to clear 10 metres from the drop-out compounded the error and Reece Robson picked out Coen Hess to bulldoze Reece Walsh one-on-one to open a 6-0 lead.
Walsh was back in the firing line in the seventh minute when a sweeping backline movement set him the impossible task of stopping 103kg winger Murray Taulagi one-on-one at pace.
The final 10 minutes of the half proved just as productive, when Jeremiah Nanai crossed for his 17th try of the season before another score labelled by Fox Sports commentator Brenton Speed as one of the team tries of the season.
Scott Drinkwater drew defenders before setting Valentine Holmes loose in the backfield with a no-look flick pass, the movement ending with former Warrior Peta Hiku strolling through to score untouched, extending the halftime lead to 24-4.
KILLER INSTINCT
The Warriors’ pain would only get worse as North Queensland blasted another 24 points through the defence in the second half.
The Cowboys could have had even more if not for toying with their opposition late in the match.
Prop Coen Hess had Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow for a clear run to the tryline but chose instead to kick ahead, with a wicked bounce cruelling the Hammer’s chance to score.
A Scott Drinkwater cut-out pass sailed above the head of Hess moments later with the tryline begging.
Peta Hiku dropped the ball over the line with a double against his former club on offer.
“We did bomb a fair few tries tonight. We got a little too trigger-happy, which you can do when the score blows out a little,” Townsend said. “I love it when the boys back themselves and they play what’s in front. I thought they did that tonight.”
WALSH WIPEOUT
Broncos fans expecting the world from Reece Walsh were handed a painful reminder that the Warriors’ 20-year-old boy wonder is not a man yet.
Twice lined up by a Cowboys firing squad in the opening moments of the match, Walsh offered zero resistance in defence but that is no sin for a fullback listed generously at 88kg.
It was two critical errors in bomb defusal that let down the Warriors most, as the Cowboys began to accelerate.
A dropped Chad Townsend bomb opened the door to Jeremiah Nanai’s 17th try of the season in the ensuing set, before another drop in traffic set the stage for Tom Dearden to power through the defence to open a 30-4 lead early in the second half.
Warriors coach Stacey Jones said the youngster had been dropped for a reason weeks ago and still had tough lessons to learn.
“Last week was near his best performance for us, and he’s got learn that he has got to be consistent,” Jones said. “He dropped a couple of high balls that led to some tries and got them back in the game but that’s a learning thing for a young player.
“Reece was dropped for being inconsistent and we’ll sit down and have a look at his performance, like everyone else.”
Jones said he didn’t fault Walsh when asked if the fullback’s head and heart was still with New Zealand.
“Where he’s going next year, I’m sure they’ll help him, but he’s got two weeks left with us and we want him to be at his best.”
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