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Payten ready for halves call with Dearden set to return
Scott Bailey, AAP •  August 16th, 2026 7:22 am
Reuben Cotter (centre) and Scott Drinkwater in discussion amid the Cowboys' latest defeat | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
North Queensland are set to shift Jaxon Purdue back to the centres for the run to the finals, with the Cowboys preparing for Tom Dearden's return after the bye.
Purdue was the Cowboys' best player in Saturday night's 32-20 loss to Parramatta, as North Queensland blew a chance to lock in a top-eight spot.
The finals still look extremely likely for Todd Payten's men, who are two points clear of ninth-placed Canterbury with a bye to come next week.
Try-scorer Jaxon Purdue was the Cowboys' best player in the loss to Parramatta | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
But several questions still linger before finals, including whether the Cowboys can get their defence on track and what to do with their halves.
Dearden is on track to return from a leg injury against Wests Tigers in a fortnight, where he will reclaim the No.7 jersey after playing just one game since early May.
The Cowboys have long weighed up their best combination, with 21-year-old Purdue a natural half despite being posted in the centres.
Tom Dearden is set to return for the Cowboys after injury | Photo: AAP
But Payten said his best option was still to keep Jake Clifford in the No.6 jersey, with Purdue to finish the year at centre before an anticipated move to fullback next year on Scott Drinkwater's departure.
"For the balance of the team, Tommy and Jake Clifford have built a decent combination over the first part of the season," Payten said.
"The combination of that also revolves around our kicking game, and those two will be our halves should Tommy come back. He's got some boxes to tick.
"Jaxon will move back out to the centres. He is a half or fullback, and you have seen through the quality and his football understanding how good he can be at centre.
"He has never played centre before he played first grade."
Purdue set up a try with a long cut-out ball and scored one of his own when stepping two Eels defenders in Saturday night's loss.
But scoring points has never been the Cowboys' issue this year.
The Cowboys have been described by their captain as "our own worst enemy" | Photo: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
Instead, they have the worst defence of any top-eight team, having leaked 82 points to the Sydney Roosters and more than 30 in eight other games.
"It's frustrating. At the moment we are our own worst enemy. And when we do get momentum back we just gift teams it straight back," captain Reuben Cotter said.
"It's frustrating to build your footy over the 80 minutes when you play like that.
"We're a good team when we get our defence right. We thrive off our defence and when we go after teams with our defence.
"When we don't get it right we seem to get a bit deflated by it."
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