“I know what we’re walking into,” Todd Payten declared ahead of North Queensland’s do-or-die clash against Penrith.
The equation was simple – the Cowboys had to venture into Panthers territory and claim a win to keep their season alive and play finals footy.
Todd Payten blasts Cowboys' defence as finals hopes ended
The home side had been on the end of a surprise drubbing by Parramatta last week and seemed hell-bent on making up for it in front of their fans, as they went about ruthlessly dismantling Payten’s team 44-12 on the way to claiming their second successive minor premiership.
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Payten highlighted how his laidback outfit had been focusing on winning the collision in the centre of the park during the lead-up to the final round of the regular season.
They went in with the intention of slowing Penrith’s ruck down and dictating terms to the reigning premiers in order to gatecrash the top eight.
Yet nothing of the sort eventuated as instead North Queensland crumbled under the weight of pressure Penrith applied onto them through their trademark aggressive line speed and spark in attack.
Stephen Crichton breached the visitor’s brittle defence after just six minutes before a three try deluge in the space of 12 minutes just before the break rendered the game all but over.
“When you’re playing a good physical team and you show any sign of weakness, they get hungry and that first period after 20 minutes, the only real bloke I saw standing up physically was Luc [Luciano Leilua],” a bitterly disappointed Payten said post-match.
“We were shell-shocked. The boys were looking at each other and waiting for someone else to do something when we needed to come together as a team and fight - that was the hard part to watch.
“To go in at halftime like we did, with everything to play for and getting put on the back foot and not showing any real resolve was really, really disappointing and hard to cop.”
One year on from their magical ride to the preliminary final against all odds, the Cowboys will now watch the finals from home after failing to make the eight.
A lack of defensive resolve has been an issue for Payten’s side throughout a troubled campaign which promised to be turned around off the back of a mid-season revival.
And yet, just as the Cowboys strung together six wins on the trot to resurrect themselves after an awful start to the season, they slipped into another form slump which proved terminal.
“We sit here after 27 weeks and we’re going to be watching finals because we didn’t stop enough tries,” the coach said.
“There are many reasons why I’m disappointed. We know how much talent we’ve got and how much hard work has gone into it.
“I’m not going to offer excuses. At the end of the day, we didn’t fight hard enough to stop tries and that’s why we’re watching finals.”
