Incoming North Queensland Cowboys head coach Todd Payten has locked in his coaching staff ahead of the 2021 season.
Incoming Head of Football Michael Luck told the Cowboys website that he was excited with the new coaching team.
“Our new coaching team is an exciting mix of experience and backgrounds which, under Todd’s direction, will generate an appealing brand of footy for Cowboys fans and members,” he said.
“There is no question that changes on-the-field will be driven by the extremely talented team we have assembled off-the-field.”
Payten, who took over as the head coach of the New Zealand Warriors for the remainder of the 2020 season, will be joined by Dean Young, Steve Georgallis and Ben Rauter as assistant coaches.
Young played over 200 games with St George Illawarra and featured in a premiership team as well as representing New South Wales in origin footy and Australia at world level.
After transitioning to coaching following his retirement in 2012, he was named as interim head coach of the Dragons in the second half of the 2020 NRL season.
A veteran of over 220 first-grade games from 1989-2001, Georgallis has enjoyed a very long coaching career since retirement.
He will come across from the Bulldogs, where he was named interim coach for their final 10 games this season.
Rauter, a former Cowboy who’s had stints in Canberra and Wakefield in the English Super League, will act as the Cowboys’ development coach, focusing on those not playing in the firsts.