Todd Payten has reportedly signed be the next Cowboys head coach. Photo / Photosport
Todd Payten has reportedly signed be the next Cowboys head coach. Photo / Photosport
New Zealand Warriors interim head coach Todd Payten is set to be announced as the new North Queensland Cowboys head coach.
Premiership-winning coach Paul Green stepped down from his role at the Cowboys in July, and according to The Daily Telegraph's Phil Rothfield, Payten will be named his replacement this week.
Rothfield reported the three-year contract will be worth approximately $1.5 million.
Payten has served as interim head coach of the Warriors since Stephen Kearney was axed in June, and will remain in place until the end of the season, when Nathan Brown will take the full-time reins on a three-year deal.
Payten has since proven his worth as an NRL coach — the Warriors have won four of their last five encounters, only losing in that period to the Penrith Panthers.
In July, Payten revealed he had rejected an offer from the Warriors to become their full-time head coach, saying he wanted to be based in Australia given his wife's father had just started chemotherapy.
"I'd been offered the job, and I told the club I'm going to turn it down," Payten told NRL 360.
"It's not an easy decision, something I agonised over for a few days, but in the end, it was the first time I've put my family first in the decision. It just wasn't the right timing."
Todd Payten has reportedly signed be the next Cowboys head coach. Photo / Photosport
Payten served as Green's assistant coach during the Cowboys' premiership campaign in 2015.
Speaking on Fox League, Brisbane Broncos great Ben Ikin said the appointment was "well deserved".
"He's given his interview, then he backed it up with a stellar coaching performance," Ikin said on Sunday.
"The Warriors are the story of the year — they currently sit in ninth position on 14 points, still a chance of playing finals football, if you can believe that.
"Todd Payten's put his hand up as a coach of the future; good to see him get a chance."
Four months after flying out of New Zealand, Payten reunited with his family on the Central Coast on Saturday.
"They got out of quarantine this morning at 10am," Payten said, as reported by The Daily Telegraph.
"It's been a great day. We hadn't seen each other for 120 days on the dot."
After the Warriors secured a 36-6 win over the Newcastle Knights on Saturday, many rugby league commentators pleaded for Payten to get a shot at one of the vacant coaching positions.
Rugby league great Mark Geyer tweeted: "Surely Payten gets the Cowboys gig? What he's done with the Warriors is nothing short of miraculous."
AAP sports journalist Pam Whaley posted: "Have you ever seen a better audition for an NRL coaching gig than what Todd Payten is giving us right now? The man management alone is extraordinary."
Payten's immediate task remains trying to get the Warriors into the playoffs, with the club sitting four points behind the eighth-placed Cronulla Sharks with four games remaining.
