When Payten axed Queensland's star back-rower Jeremiah Nanai after his poor showing against Manly in the 42-12 drubbing in round one it was not for just one lacklustre performance.
If it was, then others would have felt the coach's wrath ahead of Saturday night's home clash with Cronulla.
Nanai had been spoken to last year about his overall defensive displays. He missed three tackles and made 23 against Manly, not the worst statistic in the world, but the issue goes beyond numbers and to areas such as communication and effort.
The 22-year-old, acknowledged by Payten as an "elite attacking player", spoke in the leadup to the Sea Eagles game about his determination to improve his "defensive movements" this year.
It was the right intent but he wasn't able to turn those good intentions into actions. A stint with the Northern Pride in the Queensland Cup will now follow.
"Jeremiah ... needs to improve some defensive parts of his game and he is going to get some time in the Q Cup to do that," Payten said.
"It wasn't an easy decision but I just felt it was important for the group that if we want to improve as a team, defence is first and foremost."
Payten spoke to AAP before a ball was kicked this year and pinpointed the area he wanted the side to grow after reaching the second week of finals in 2024.
"We have to show more resilience when things are going against us. That's our priority," he said.
"The decisions we make under fatigue across the group and as individuals need to be tougher ones."
That is why Payten had no hesitation replacing Nanai with former Canberra and Leigh Leopards forward Kai O'Donnell for his Cowboys debut.
"He is rock-hard fit and he will die competing for his teammates. He played really good footy over in England and has grown up wanting to be a Cowboy all of his life," Payten said.
Cowboys co-captain Tom Dearden had a tough night against Manly on the left edge with Nanai and centre Jaxon Purdue. The Test and Queensland playmaker missed an uncharacteristic six tackles.
"We had a really honest review and we really missed the mark with the physical part of our performance and that is where we are looking to bounce back," Dearden said.
"If I'm honest, I thought (the left edge) missed our mark defensively. We missed a few important tackles that ended up being crucial in tries. We need to be better in that area."
Fullback Scott Drinkwater was also scathing of the display at Brookvale Oval.
"The biggest one that came up in the review was concentration," he said.
"We got shown a few things about people not concentrating on their job and (Manly) finding us out when that was happening. We need more guys concentrating."
If the Cowboys don't concentrate, particularly in defence, then Sharks ball runners such as back-rower Briton Nikora will have a night out.
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