{"id":125981,"date":"2021-09-09T00:22:43","date_gmt":"2021-09-09T00:22:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=125981"},"modified":"2021-09-09T06:00:49","modified_gmt":"2021-09-09T06:00:49","slug":"huge-burden-facing-cowboys-recruit-in-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=125981","title":{"rendered":"Huge burden facing Cowboys recruit in 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was always going to be a tough task for incoming coach Todd Payten, inheriting an ageing and unbalanced roster – and few were surprised that the Cowboys<\/a> finished well down the ladder with just six wins.<\/p>\n

Life since Johnathan Thurston's retirement<\/a> has been difficult for the Cowboys and their halves, Tom Dearden and Scott Drinkwater, struggled to steer the team into scoring positions.<\/p>\n

That puts massive pressure on former Sharks premiership winner Chad Townsend<\/a> and he may well end up captaining the club, adding to the weight on his shoulders.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Michael Schumacher's wife breaks down discussing legend's near-fatal skiing accident<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Billy Slater named as 'frontrunner' for Maroons coach gig<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Crunch time looms for Manchester United and Ronaldo<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Much was made of Payten's decision to cut Jason Taumalolo's game time in a bid to preserve his body and hopefully the Cowboys will see the results of this next season when the big man comes back fresh and hungry.<\/p>\n

Payten also needs to make up his mind on where to play class outside back Valentine Holmes, who alternated between wing and fullback with the exciting Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.<\/p>\n

Defence was poor in many games and the tackle bags are certain to get a good workout over the summer months.<\/p>\n

Payten is working towards building a team for the long term, with youngsters like Tabuai-Fidow, Murray Taulagi, Heilum Luki, Griffin Neame, Jeremiah Nanai and Ben Condon all showing promise.<\/p>\n

What Payten needs to be wary of is grooming this fine crop of up-and-comers for the next Cowboys coach.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Best player:<\/strong> Three broken hands made it a frustrating season for Taumalolo but he still had more impact than any other Cowboy.<\/p>\n

Biggest disappointment:<\/strong> Michael Morgan is a Cowboys legend but injuries restricted him to just two games and he ultimately retired, leaving a gaping hole in the playmaking ranks.<\/p>\n

Key signing:<\/strong> Townsend will need all his experience and organisational skills to whip the clunky Cowboys attack into shape in 2022.<\/p>\n

Gains:<\/strong> Peta Hiku (Warriors), Chad Townsend (Warriors)<\/p>\n

Losses:<\/strong> Michael Morgan (retirement), Justin O'Neill (retirement), Jake Clifford (Knights), Esan Marsters (Titans), Francis Molo (Dragons), Corey Jensen (Broncos), Shane Wright (Salford)<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was always going to be a tough task for incoming coach Todd Payten, inheriting an ageing and unbalanced roster – and few were surprised […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125981"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=125981"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125983,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125981\/revisions\/125983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=125981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=125981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=125981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}