Todd Payten has earned a new deal with North Queensland for the next three seasons, with a formal announcement from the club expected in coming days after the Cowboys’ 30-18 win over the Rabbitohs.
The decision had already been made by the board the day before the game, after Payten spoke to directors midway through last week. The result only confirmed what the club had been leaning toward: sticking with the coach who has dragged the Cowboys back from a shaky start to the season.
North Queensland’s first two losses made the pressure obvious. The Cowboys opened the campaign with a defeat to the Knights in Las Vegas, then were beaten 44-16 by the Tigers in round two. At that point, Payten looked like a dead coach walking, with outside noise growing around his future and his side struggling to find any rhythm.
Since then, the turn has been sharp. The Cowboys have won eight of their last 10 games, a run that has changed the mood around the club and given the board little reason to move in another direction. That improvement has come while the team has been missing several key Origin players, making the recent results look even more valuable to those inside the club.
Payten has also stayed loyal to a core group through the swing in form, keeping faith in Tom Chester, Zac Laybutt, Jaxon Purdue and Jake Clifford. That backing has been part of the wider reset under him, with the Cowboys now looking much closer to the side that can hold its own across a long season than the one that started so badly.
The immediate next step is the club’s formal announcement, which is expected in the coming days. For now, the decision leaves little doubt about where North Queensland is headed: the board has backed Payten through the early turbulence and into a new three-year window.
