Payten left 'really angry' after fourth-straight loss

North Queensland suffered a fourth-straight loss on Saturday night – and their coach Todd Payten was left "really angry" by the result.

After a spirited effort in defeat against the Panthers a week prior, the Cowboys blew an early lead against the Dolphins, going down 28-26 against the Dolphins.

Goalkicking proved to be the difference on the scoreboard, with Valentine Holmes missing two goals compared to Jamayne Isaako's 80 per cent strike rate, but Payten was left to lament a number of key lapses in defence.

"It's super frustrating … it makes me really angry and disappointed," he said.

"In the end, we were just outworked when it really mattered.

"We knew we were playing a team that just doesn't go away. We started fast but were just unable to defend back-to-back sets.

"It's the unforced ones that are hard to make an excuse for and they are the ones that really hurt your team. To be fair, other teams are making errors, but they've got resilience to defend their line.

"We need our guys to stay within the system and we need to be heavier on the ground and we need to move faster on our tryline."

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The hosts missed 27 tackles at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, while coming up with 13 errors and conceding three penalties in a see-sawing affair.

Jake Clifford's return to the lineup at halfback was one positive for the Cowboys and he could be in the mix to hold onto the No.7 jumper in the coming weeks.