- Todd Payten didn’t mince words at a press conference
- Cowboys coach was dejected after loss to Sharks
- He urged his team to evolve and become a top-tier force.
North Queensland coach Todd Payten has bluntly stated that his side must evolve collectively or they will remain a “middle of the road” team in the NRL.
This followed a 26-18 defeat at the hands of Cronulla on Friday night at Allianz Stadium, which ended the Cowboys’ season.
Sharks five-eighth Braydon Trindall made the difference by finishing with two tries as his team finished the final in defeat.
They will next play their first preliminary final since 2018 when they face Penrith.
Payten’s men showed some resilience after trailing 24-0 at halftime, but ultimately fell short.
“That’s where we have to evolve… I was talking to Reubes (Cotter) and he said the same thing… otherwise we are a mid-table team,” he said.
‘We showed some flashiness, but we need to push the accelerator a bit more in the difficult parts of the game for longer periods.
“We have some skill, but you can’t choose when you’re doing the difficult things in the game.”
North Queensland coach Todd Payten has bluntly stated that his side must evolve or they will remain a “middle-of-the-road” NRL side.
This followed a 26-18 defeat at the hands of Cronulla on Friday night at Allianz Stadium which ended the Cowboys’ season (pictured, shattered back-row Jeremiah Nanai).
Cowboys captain Rueben Cotter (pictured right) said after the game that his team “has a lot to work on” in the offseason.
Cotter agreed with Payten’s harsh assessment at the press conference.
“Like Todd said, you can’t give away starts like that, not in big games, so we’ve got a lot to work on,” he said.
Payten is losing some of his most experienced players during the off-season, with Kyle Feldt moving to the Super League, Valentine Holmes heading to St George Illawarra and Chad Townsend joining the Roosters.
Payten also refused to use the Cowboys’ travel schedule dramas earlier this week as a reason for his team’s lackluster start against the Sharks.
With the help of the NRL, the Cowboys were forced to request a charter plane to Sydney after a shortage of commercial flights leaving Townsville.
“It’s not an excuse,” Payten said. “Mentally we were ready to play, but we put too much pressure on ourselves in the first half.”