The Cowboys got a rude shock when they turned up for training last Monday, with players revealing the brutal challenge thrown down by coach Todd Payten and the honesty sessions that turned their season around.
North Queensland got their campaign back on track with an impressive 20-6 win over the Roosters and players admitted to foxsports.com.au after the game that “complacency” and a lack of pride in the jersey were behind their lacklustre start to the season.
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The Cowboys stunned the competition last year to finish third on the ladder and host a preliminary final, but in 2023 they’ve turned from the hunters to the hunted.
They lost six of their opening nine games and had dropped four of their past five heading into the Roosters clash.
After copping a 38-point thumping at the hands of Cronulla in Round 9, Payten decided to deliver his side a reality check.
“He challenged us a lot, we came in Monday thinking we had video review and instead we did wrestling training, tackling each other for over an hour,” Drinkwater told foxsports.com.au.
“So that was a big challenge and a bit of a shock but we got punched in the face against Cronulla and we didn’t punch back.
“The Roosters play their footy exactly the same, they punch you in the face through the middle and see if you’re willing to go with them and we were up for the challenge.
“Our big boys who started really dominated them and punched them back.”
Payten’s men produced their best performance of the season on Sunday and played with the same grit and determination that got them within 80 minutes of the grand final last year.
“It was about (fixing) our attitude,” Drinkwater said.
“Todd said the only difference between winning and losing is how you turn up and what mindset you’re in and it showed with two totally different weeks and it just came down to attitude.
“We wanted to fight, that was our trademark for the week, just fight on everything no matter who was wearing the jersey tonight.
“We didn’t want to think about talent or anything, it was just all about attitude and who is willing to fight for 80 minutes for the person next to them and every single person in the team tonight did that and when everyone does that you tend to win more than you lose.”
Foxsports.com.au asked Drinkwater why their attitude had dropped off in the opening nine rounds of the season.
“It’s a good question. Maybe we’re thinking we’re going to turn up and everyone is going to have that attitude and some people if they’re not on it hurts the team and other people have not only got to worry about their job but other jobs as well,” Drinkwater said.
“I don’t know why, I guess complacency, maybe, but it’s good that tonight no one showed up with complacency.
Cowboys Press Conference | 06:54
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“Teams are definitely turning up against us after our season last year and we probably didn’t understand that at the start of the year.
“Last year we were the ones turning up against teams taking us easy and lightly and that could be a reason why we’ve struggled in games.
“So it’s about understanding we had a good season and now teams are going to turn up with a pretty good attitude against us so we need to turn up too.
“Nothing has changed (from the coaching staff), it’s all on the playing group, the coaches are wonderful and give us good detail during the week and it’s just our attitude and we spoke about during the week the attitude we need to show up with and that’s the standard moving forward.”
Cowboys lock Reuben Cotter admitted the care factor was lacking before last week’s brutal training sessions brought some “resilience” back into the squad.
“We defended well tonight, we showed care about the jersey and care for each other which probably hasn’t been there the last few weeks,” Cotter said.
“A kick up the arse at the start of the week (is what helped us find the care factor).
“It was a tough week. Monday was a fairly big touch up and Tuesday was an even bigger session and we needed it.
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“We definitely needed it, obviously. The boys really cared about the team tonight, it was good to see.
“We spoke about how the next month will reveal our true character. Tonight really showed that we do care and we’ve got to keep building on this now over the next few weeks.”
Drinkwater played his best game of the season against the Roosters and also said the next month will define their season.
“When I’m going good it’s because of my effort areas, the rest just comes naturally to me so it’s a focus point for myself,” Drinkwater said.
“We’ve got the Dragons, Tigers, Parramatta next, so a big month of footy started tonight with a good win and we can’t get complacent.
“The Dragons are fighting just like us, Tigers are fighting, so those next two games are crucial for us.
“We need to go on a run, we’re down the bottom of the table not where we want to be. Top four is always the goal but at the moment I’d just like to get in the top eight.”
