Under pressure and facing a shaky start to the season, Todd Payten has dropped a major revelation, revealing a conversation with referees on what seems to be a clear directive from the NRL.
With scrutiny mounting around the Cowboys, Payten has redirected the attention to the officials and revealed they are reportedly being told to take control of games almost immediately — particularly within the opening 15 minutes.
Let's just say — it explains a lot.
“I had some dialogue with the referees through the week, and they've been given directives to stamp their authority on the game in the first 15 minutes, with setting the tone, with the speed of the ruck, and what they want,” Payten said on Friday.
“We saw that in our game last week, and we saw it again last night. I think it's going to be a little bit of an adjustment for the competition at the moment with the new rule changes and how it's going to be officiated, but we've been told.”
It's a significant insight and one that explains the flood of early penalties, set restarts and sin bins to start the season.
The Cowboys, particularly falling victim to this fate last week against the Cowboys, where they received a sin bin in the opening 10 minutes due to repeated infringements on their line.
By overloading the opening stages with enforcement, referees are effectively dictating how the rest of the game unfolds.
Defensive fatigue kicks in earlier, discipline cracks widen, and contests can quickly spiral — often leading to one-sided scorelines.
The concern? It risks clashing with the NRL's push for a faster, more entertaining product.
Instead of games building naturally, they're being forced into shape from the outset.
And that shift is being felt across the competition.
