The North Queensland Cowboys punted Paul Green two months ago. Since then, they've lost seven of their eight games to sit 14th on the ladder just one win above the worst Brisbane Broncos team ever and the wooden spoon Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.

This side laden with big names, representative talent and exciting youngsters hasn't threatened to compete for a finals spot since beating the Bulldogs and Titans either side of the suspended portion of the season. The Cowboys are lucky the Broncos are so bad. If not, they'd be talked about a lot more as one of the most disappointing teams in 2020.

But with a strong group of core players for a promising young coach to take over in 2021, the Cowboys faithful can start looking toward a brighter future.

The Good

It requires a little bit of digging, but the Cowboys have landed inside the top half in the competition across three somewhat meaningful statistics. 

• Possession: 50.3% (6th)
• Penalties Conceded: 5.1 (6th)
• Post-contact Metres: 584.1m (8th)

Maintaining possession is one positive for the Cowboys this season. They're the only bottom eight side in the top half of the list in possession. A lot of that will come down to their discipline, but that is nothing new for the club. They haven't finished in the bottom half in penalties conceded in any season since at least 2013. 

Jason Taumalolo's NRL-high 89.1 post-contact metres per game explains how the Cowboys, despite ranking 11th in running metres at 1,626 metres per game, can be around the middle of the pack in metres made after contact.

So, the Cowboys have recorded the most handling errors in the competition (10.4 per game), but their discipline helped in allowing them to play with over 50% possession. Meanwhile, the best middle forward in rugby league props up their overall post-contact metres.

There isn't a lot of 'good' for the Cowboys to take out of the numbers side of 2020.

From a player perspective, a handful of individual performances and improvements can offer hope for a turnaround in 2021.

While the Cowboys haven't been able to send out a consistent spine all season, they've unearthed a number of options for 2021. Any combination of Valentine Homes, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow, Scott Drinkwater, Michael Morgan, Jake Clifford, Reece Robson and Reuben Cotter can make up a strong spine for the Cowboys to start next season.

Fullback is Holmes' spot to lose, but we've seen Tabuai-Fidow apply some pressure already this season. Drinkwater can play back there as well if he isn't at five-eighth. The same applies to Morgan, although, Green and Josh Hannay seem desperate to crowbar him into the number seven jersey. It's a jersey Clifford looks better to fill as a young half that leans towards the traditional playing style at the position. At dummy half, Robson removed Jake Clifford as the first-choice hooker this season while Cotter isn't too far behind and plays a similar style. 

Whatever the combination Payten goes with to start Round 1 in 2021, it's a spine that wouldn't look out of place playing finals football by the end of it. 

Taumalolo ensures the spine will have at least one elite forward to play behind. He will finish inside the top five in running metres per game for a fourth consecutive season after leaving defenders in chalk for 210.3 metres per game. We've seen the likes of David Klemmer and Marty Taupau work an offload and pass into their game. That's the next step for Taumalolo if he ever receives enough help to take the team off his back in yardage.

The hope was for Jordan McLean to provide Taumalolo with that help. His 124 metres per game this season is the lowest number in his three years with the club, though. Instead, it's Josh McGuire's career-high 168 running metres per game and the uncovering of Francis Molo as a legitimate starting prop that has allowed the Cowboys to not fall any lower than 11th in running metres. Molo, in particular, has been excellent to average 123 metres per game in the ten he has started at prop in 2020. 

A handful of individual performances in the middle and the uncovering of depth in key play-making positions can provide the Cowboys faithful with some positives in 2020, but they're grossly outweighed by the negatives overall.

The Bad

The North Queensland attack has fallen short of expectations to average just 18 points per game in 2020.

While Morgan only playing six games and Holmes ten games has held the Cowboys attack back, their turnover in the outside backs has made the development of any combinations and cohesion impossible.

The Cowboys have changed their backline 32 times throughout the last 43 rounds. Round 17 and 18 was the first time they had named the same backline across back-to-back weeks since Round 4, but another change for Round 19 has ended that naming streak already.

A lack of creativity and overall plan in good ball sets - again, a large result in the turnover of players in attacking positions - has the Cowboys scoring just 0.61 points per tackle inside the opposition 20-metre line. Despite earning the sixth-most tackles inside the opposition 20-metre line this season (529), the Cowboys scored the sixth-fewest points per tackle. 

Too often the ball is being sent wide only for a half to shovel it onto the lead runner:

In this case, the Cowboys are presented with a centre-field scrum inside the opposition 20-metre line. It's one of the best attacking positions on the field to work from. While it is Daejarn Asi's second game in first-grade, his confusion and the overall lack of plan for this play goes a long way to summing up North Queensland's struggles in attack. 

Asi doesn't know what to do with the ball once taking possession with this prime attacking opportunity ending with a McGuire hit up under the posts. 

Defensively, only a terrible Broncos side has conceded more than the 26.2 points the Cowboys have allowed through per game. 

Kyle Feldt leads the competition in try causes with 22 through 18 rounds. Esan Marsters was right there with him until Round 10 (14 try causes). Dropped for six weeks and moved to the other side of the field since then, Marsters has only registered one try cause in his last two games. 

A lack of cohesion can again be used to explain some of North Queensland's defensive frailties. However, the Cowboys conceded too many soft tries to put their 15th-ranked defence down to poor combinations. They've not looked like a team that wants to defend with the Cowboys landing in the bottom five in ineffective tackles (16.4) and missed tackles (30.6) per game. 

The Future

Given what Todd Payten is doing with the Warriors right now, the Cowboys can be confident of making significant improvements in 2021.

He hasn't allowed the Warriors to switch off and take a backward step despite the fact nobody would blame them under the circumstances. Their attitude in defence is in stark contrast to what the Cowboys have offered up in 2020. Despite only scoring 20.3 points themselves (bang on the NRL average) over the last eight rounds, the Warriors have conceded just 18 points per game to win four games while going close to the Roosters, Panthers and Eels. 

Payten will walk into a side capable of playing finals football. If he can name a backline worth sticking with over multiple rounds, the Cowboys attack is sure to improve behind whichever spine combination he names.

Already proving to be an excellent man-manager and motivator, an attitude adjustment will help to start bringing down their current 26.2 points conceded per game.

Green's time was up at the Cowboys. While it isn't performing now, he has left behind a roster that any good coach will be able to work with. Payten is that good coach. 

It may not feel like it now, but the future is bright in North Queensland. With the best forward in rugby league, a spine made up of Origin talent and improving youngsters, and a coach already proving capable of taking over a team and producing positive results early on, a quick return to the Top 8 isn't out of the question for the Cowboys in 2021.

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