While the Cowboys allowed South Sydney to score eight consecutive tries during the match, the half-time deficit was only 10 points, with the match still in the balance.<\/p>\n
Just three minutes into the second 40 minutes, Cowboys young gun Heilum Luki was sin-binned and reported for a high shot on Peter Mamouzelos, which ultimately proved too much to overcome for the Cowboys who had to play a man down while trailing.<\/p>\n
But the second half could've looked much different had referee Matt Cecchin penalised Knight, who just moments before Luki's incident, landed a high shot on Dearden which despite going unnoticed at the time, was placed on report not long after.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Payten after the match said Knight's late shot on Dearden wasn't too dissimilar to other incidents that he's seen penalised previously.<\/p>\n
"I saw the referee point at it… I've seen it penalised before," Payten told reporters.<\/p>\n
"The next set, they roll down the park and Heilum (Luki) gets 10 in the bin. <\/p>\n
"If he penalises that [Dearden incident] it's a different ball game. I'm not saying the result is any different, but it's a different game."<\/p>\n
Asked if a penalty could have been awarded had Dearden remained on the turf to gain the attention of the referee, Payten said: "Very possible, yeah, but Tommy's a tough little competitor which is what I like about him."<\/p>\n
With North Queensland suffering their fourth-straight defeat, Payten didn't hold back when he questioned the maturity of his side to keep their heads up during the "tough parts of the game".<\/p>\n
![\"NRL](\"https:\/\/vms-network-images-prod.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/2021\/07\/369154\/pickerImage.jpg\")
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"It's very similar to the last couple of games, where we put ourselves under pressure," he said.<\/p>\n
"We made a mistake at the 25th-minute mark – poor pass, drop ball and then compound that by not defending our line.<\/p>\n
"We're an immature team at the moment. Just not willing to pay the price in the tough parts of the game for long enough."<\/p>\n