The Cowboys hosted the Sharks at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Saturday afternoon with Payten demanding a physical response after they were belted 42-12 by Manly in the first round.
The coach put his players on notice by dumping Queensland State of Origin forward Jeremiah Nanai to the Queensland Cup.
While the scoreline was an improvement, North Queensland still appeared disjointed both in attack and defence, desperately missing Jason Taumalolo, who is set to return next week from a foot injury.
The Cowboys didn't manage a single line-break and tallied 35 missed tackles as Cronulla banked their first win after six-point loss to Penrith in Las Vegas.
The visitors skipped away to a 10-0 lead after 24 minutes with centre Kayal Iro and second-rower Briton Nikora both taking advantage of some flimsy goal-line defence.
While North Queensland hit back when young centre Jaxon Purdue pounced on a loose ball off a kick by Thomas Duffy, the Sharks again pushed the margin out to 10 points.
Cronulla moved the ball wide to expose the Cowboys' problematic left edge defence, with winger Sam Stonestreet strolling over.
Murray Taulagi did his best to kick-start the Cowboys but was denied by Sharks fullback Will Kennedy while Nikora's second try was also rejected due to obstruction with the halftime scoreline 16-6.
The home side went down a man seven minutes into the second half when Purdue was sent to the sin bin for a professional foul but Cronulla were unable to take advantage.
But they broke the second half deadlock and made the task near impossible for North Queensland, scoring twice in four minutes through second-rower Teig Wilton and winger Ronaldo Mulitalo.
Speedster Stonestreet grabbed his second try in the 73rd minute with Cowboys fullback Scott Drinkwater showing his class to score off the kick-off.
But the Sharks had the final say with Iro again charging over to cap a miserable night for the home side.
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