North Queensland Cowboys coach Todd Payten has accepted accountability for his staff’s 2-2 begin to the season, saying he ‘took the foot off the gas’ when it got here to coaching resulting from climate and journey situations.
But he’s assured the staff will proceed to enhance – and hinted that his gamers will probably be dealing with some ruthless coaching classes within the days forward.
Asked if he was pleased about his aspect’s begin to the season, Payten instructed Fox League’s NRL 360: “I’d like to win another game or two, there’s no doubt our best footy’s still in front of us.
“The frustrating thing for me as a coach is the two games we lost, we just put ourselves under far too much pressure with poor ball security and poor discipline. The first month or six weeks of the competition you’ve got to get those two parts of your game spot on.”
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Last season, the Cowboys exceeded all expectations on the again of a notoriously brutal pre-season. But Payten dismissed strategies {that a} softer pre-season this time round was responsible for his or her sluggish begin.
He stated: “We trained hard, we didn’t take our foot off the gas in terms of our training content. (But) it was a shorter pre-season. Last year’s pre-season was eight or nine weeks. This year’s was less than that – the world cup guys only got five weeks coming back after Christmas.
“I guess what I’ve learned about our group is we play the way that we train. I’ll take some responsibility, I took the foot off the gas in the first three weeks of the competition purely because of the conditions that we play up here. We’ve travelled, we had a six day turn (around).
“(We’ve) taken some kilometres out of sessions, taken some collisions out of sessions, and taken some speeds out of sessions.
“Like I said, (that) reconfirmed that we need to push our guys, make sure that they’re doing things when they’re not feeling great. That’s what our game’s about – doing things under fatigue and when you’re on the back foot. If you want to be successful you’ve got to get your job done in those moments.”
Paul Kent stated gamers won’t be too pleased to listen to that, with gruelling coaching classes clearly on the agenda.
Kent stated: “Clearly they bounced back on the weekend. I expect given what we’ve heard there they’re going to keep on the way up now he’s figured out what makes them tick. Unfortunately for them, that’s hard work in the Townsville sun!”
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Last 12 months the Cowboys had a comparatively fortuitous season when it comes to accidents and suspensions. But already this 12 months, they’re dealing with a raft of absences for each causes – with Murray Tualagi out for 4-6 video games with an MCL damage, James Tamou set for a specialist appointment in Brisbane on Tuesday over a Lisfranc damage that would require surgical procedure, and Gehamat Shibasaki out for two-three weeks with a hamstring pressure.
Jeremiah Nanai is suspended for 2 weeks after taking an early responsible plea for a harmful throw.
“There’s no doubt we’re going to have to improve if we want to make the top four,” Payten stated. “I think the competition is quite even. If I look at our club and our group, our roster runs deeper than it has any time since I’ve come back … we’re going to have to rely on some guys more-so than we did last year, we had a pretty nice run in terms of injuries and suspensions.
“At the moment we’re going to be tested, and we need to fight and scrap over the course of this next four to six week period.”
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Source web site: www.foxsports.com.au
