{"id":36493,"date":"2021-02-19T02:25:36","date_gmt":"2021-02-19T03:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=36493"},"modified":"2021-02-19T06:57:26","modified_gmt":"2021-02-19T06:57:26","slug":"jt-how-one-big-summer-changed-the-cowboys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=36493","title":{"rendered":"JT: How one big summer changed the Cowboys"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Queensland Cowboys<\/a> legend Johnathan Thurston<\/a> knows the club has a gem on their hands with new coach Todd Payten.<\/p>\n

"Anyone that you talk to about Toddy says he's got a great football brain and understands the game very well," he told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

The New Zealand Warriors<\/a> fought tooth and nail to keep Payten, 42, after he shone in an interim role for the club during their most challenging season ever in 2020.<\/p>\n

"He's changed a lot of things within the club; from coaching staff to high performance, and the playing group as well. I'm very optimistic about what he will bring to the club."<\/p>\n

\"2020<\/p>\n

"The biggest thing at the moment is keeping our boys on the paddock which we haven't been able to do the last three or four years."<\/p>\n

"I truly believe our team will improve with Toddy at the helm."<\/p>\n

Cultures are set to collide in Townsville, Saturday 20<\/em><\/strong>th<\/sup><\/em><\/strong> February. Secure your seats at<\/em><\/strong> https:\/\/tickets.nrl.com\/allstars<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Payten has already brought fresh idea to the club, including a plan to reduce the minutes for Jason Taumalolo<\/a> to maximise his effectiveness – a move Thurston backs.<\/p>\n

"It's great thinking from Toddy, and he [Taumalolo] always rips and tears but his efforts could have an even greater impact for the team in shorter stints," he said.<\/p>\n

"A lot of teams are game-planning to tire him out, he's just a beast – I look forward to watching him play every time.<\/p>\n

"I think if the players around him can lift as well, then that will allow them to be able to do that."<\/p>\n

\"Indigenous<\/p>\n

Thurston identified Tom Gilbert, who will miss the first quarter of the season with a broken fibula, and flying winger Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow as key men to watch as part of the new Payten regime.<\/p>\n

He also said Reece Robson and Valentine Holmes would improve with full pre-seasons under their belt.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I've been really impressed with Daejarn Asi as well. He's got really good hand-eye coordiantion and really silky hands, the ability to find a pass under pressure," Thurston said.<\/p>\n

The Keebra Park graduate played five games last year and is considered a big part of the future in Townsville – he's also among the reserves to the Maori All Stars tomorrow night.<\/p>\n

"I'm not exactly sure what position he'll play, he's a centre\/five-eighth, but he's really skilful."<\/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<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North Queensland Cowboys legend Johnathan Thurston knows the club has a gem on their hands with new coach Todd Payten. "Anyone that you talk to […]<\/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\/36493"}],"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=36493"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36493\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36495,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36493\/revisions\/36495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}