Todd Payten revealed the main message of a blunt half-time ‘bake’ he delivered to the Cowboys following his side’s 26-24 comeback win over the Raiders on Saturday night.
The Cowboys trailed The Green Machine 24-6 after 37 minutes but took some momentum into the sheds after Ben Condon scored a converted try before the half-time siren.
But the rookie head coach still didn’t like what he saw from his charges in the first half and made displeasure known.
“The first half was just more of the same of the first six weeks of the competition,” Payten said.
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“… I gave the boys a bit of a bake at half-time about if nothing changes we’re wasting our time.
“I thought we got bullied a little bit in that first half and I thought our players stood up in that second half.
“… We held onto the ball in the second half and defended tough and scrambled and when they were gassed at different points they just kept turning up and held the ball and controlled how they got the ball, so that’s playing the right way.
“It’s a pretty simple game when you hold the ball and put pressure on the opposition rather than yourselves.”
After starting the season with four consecutive defeats, the Cowboys have now won three straight after victories over the Tigers, Bulldogs and Raiders.
“If anything we got out of tonight we got the belief that we can actually hang in there when things are tough,” Payten said of his side’s most recent victory.
“It was an arm wrestle … we controlled the ball and stayed in the fight and came away with the chocolates.”
He added of the Cowboys’ winning streak: “It’s pleasing but tonight’s win was more enjoyable than the last two.
“I said last week I’ll take them anyway they come but tonight was a far better performance because we played the game the right way.”
