Rugby league Immortal Wally Lewis has warned Cowboys coach Todd Payten not to "upset the apple cart" after he branded his team "scared" during a press conference following North Queensland's loss to the Dragons.
Payten, in his first year in charge at the Cowboys, unloaded on superstar forward Jason Taumalolo after last week's Round One loss to Penrith, before once again unleashing on his players on Saturday.
The new Cowboys coach is clearly frustrated about some of the problems he's inherited but, according to Lewis, Payten must learn to tone things down following tough defeats or risk permanently damaging his relationship with his players.
The Queensland rugby league great cited Wayne Bennett as a prime example of how Payten should conduct himself, revealing the master coach rarely lost his cool with his playing group during his stints at the Broncos, even when they lost games they should have won.
"Obviously coaches don't like losing as much as the players," Lewis told Wide World of Sports' QLDER.
"There is disappointment all the way around there. I think he's got to be pretty careful that he doesn't upset the apple cart.
"I'm not being critical of Payten, he's been there, done that in some of the highest levels of footy.
"The one I keep going back to, and we've got a Broncos theme about it, was that Bennett in some of the most obvious games Brisbane were playing where they were 99.9 per cent certain of success on the field – when they lost it, Bennett was never critical of them.
"He would try and work on something that was constructive.
"It's understandable that he's extremely disappointed, but there's got to be a little bit of due care and attention taken so that the long term goals are in reach, just as much as the short."
However, fellow Maroons legend Sam Thaiday said he had no issues with Payten's hardline response in the media, so long as the same messages are being discussed behind closed doors.
"For me, as long as he's being open and honest with the players as much as he is being open and honest in the press conferences," Thaiday said.
"If I'm a player sitting back and I can see what he's saying in the media and calling guys out and putting that back on the players – I'm fine if he's doing that behind closed doors as well.
"I wouldn't be offside with him [if I was a player].
"I would be respecting him even more because he's calling us out publicly, putting us all on notice, but also behind closed doors he's doing it individually – he's doing it as a team because he wants them to be better."
One positive for the Cowboys out of last Saturday's loss to the Dragons was the performance of Valentine Holmes, who produced a stunning kick and chase try from close range, while also notching 125 run metres.
Holmes, who started North Queensland's 2020 campaign at fullback, has been placed on the wing this season but Thaiday said it was time for that experiment to end, suggesting promising young halfback Jake Clifford be axed to accommodate a new-look spine.
"I'd love to see Val playing fullback," Thaiday added.
"I want to see him busier. He's one of their most exciting players.
"Jason Taumalolo is not playing at the moment through injury, you need your next best player, which I think is Val Holmes, to get his hands on the ball.
"I think Scott Drinkwater can go in the halves and I'd probably say you keep Michael Morgan in the halves with him."
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