The North Queensland Cowboys have confirmed former forward Mitchell Dunn has been promoted to the role of NRL assistant coach for 2027.

The 29-year-old played 58 games for the Cowboys between 2018 and 2023, but was forced in to an early retirement after injury issues.

Dunn's first role off the field with the club was as a game development coach in 2024, and he has spent the past two seasons as elite pathways head coach, while he has also been on-field trainer for the Cowboys at times.

He joins Todd Payten's staff that also features Blake Green, Steve Sheppard and Jordan McLean, while Brett O'Farrell remains the contact coach, and Don Singe remains head of leadership and culture.

Another former Cowboys player Paul Bowman, who has been the long-term head of performance at the club, changes roles to become the general manager of elite player development.

Pat Kenny, who has been away from the club in recent times at the Broncos and Queensland State of Origin, returns to take over Bowman's head of performance role.

“The club is excited about the construction of our Football Department for 2027, in particular our new-look High Performance Unit,” Cowboys Football Club CEO Micheal Luck said.

“We have brought in new people with new ideas, who have come from diverse backgrounds and bring different perspectives to an area that is a critical piece of all high-performing programs.

“We consider ourselves a development club, that includes staff, which is why we are pleased to finalise Mitch Dunn's promotion to the NRL coaching staff after a terrific apprenticeship with our pathways programs following his playing retirement.

“We are eager to see Todd and his staff hit the ground running when our first crop of players return for the start of pre-season next week.”

The Cowboys have also confirmed that Sam Harrison, Lachlan Trenerry and Mitch Pemberton will be part of the strength and conditioning team, while Ashley Graham and Jon Crawley continue as physiotherapists under the eye of head physio Steve Sartori and chief medical officer Dr Chris Ball.

North Queensland, who underwent significant coaching staff changes in recent seasons, will enter 2027 relatively stable after a mixed season for Todd Payten's side, which saw a finals appearance that still felt as if they had underperformed.

Payten himself appeared under the pump early in the year before the Cowboys were able to turn things around and qualify for the top eight, but it's clear more will be expected in 2027.