Newly appointed North Queensland coach Todd Payten is confident he can turn around the fortunes of the struggling NRL club.
Payten will finish the 2020 campaign in his caretaker role at the Warriors before joining the Cowboys on a three-year deal, it was confirmed on Friday.
Returning to the club where he worked as an assistant to Paul Green for three years from 2015-18, Payten is bullish about the Cowboys’ prospects despite a dismal year with the club in wooden-spoon contention after a nine-game losing run.
“I see a huge amount of upside within the Cowboys organisation and it is my job to see that eventuate into results on the field,” Payten said.
“Developing the players within the club to be good footballers and good men along with playing a style of football our members and supporters can be proud of will be my main focus.”
Payten emerged as the favourite to succeed Green after the premiership-winning coach’s exit in July following an impressive stint at the helm of the Warriors.
Taking over after Stephen Kearney was sacked in June, Payten has guided the Warriors to four wins in their past five matches to keep them with an outside chance of making this year’s finals despite being located in Australia since early May.
The 41-year-old, who scored a try for Wests Tigers in their 2005 grand-final win against the Cowboys, overcame several rival candidates to secure the position including former Gold Coast coach John Cartwright and England coach Shaun Wane.
“His strong leadership abilities, the importance he places on culture and communication and the confidence he has in continuing to develop our playing group were all major factors in choosing Todd as our next head coach,” Cowboys chairman Lewis Ramsay said.
Green left the club after seven years as Cowboys coach, a tenure that included the club’s first premiership in 2015 and a grand-final defeat in 2017.
Since Green’s departure, the Cowboys are yet to win and sit in 14th place, just one win more than last-placed Canterbury with four matches to play.
It will be the third consecutive season the Cowboys won’t play finals.