But come fulltime at Allianz Stadium on Friday night, the Cowboys coach was left wounded as Cronulla romped into a preliminary final meeting with Penrith and sent North Queensland packing.
The Cowboys' 2024 NRL season is over with the 26-18 loss after they were unable to come back from a 24-0 halftime deficit.
"I think there's a lot of lessons with that this year," said captain Tom Dearden.
"There were way too many games where we just didn't turn up to start the game and we end up having to really chase it in the second half.
"The most disappointing thing is we know our footy is there."
Valentine Holmes and Kyle Feldt failed to finish their final games with the club due to injury.
Payten was quick to clarify that Holmes, who left the ground on crutches, had not suffered an achilles injury.
In a way, the Cowboys' semi-final exit was a snapshot of their campaign this year that has been full of dizzying highs and jolting lows.
No team has knocked off the NRL's top four of Melbourne, Penritth, the Sydney Roosters and Cronulla this season except the Cowboys, who have managed to secure wins over the competition's highest-ranking quartet.
On the way to a fifth-placed finish, Payten's side have become known for their enterprising play, willingness to attack from deep and outgun opponents with the ball in hand.
They finished the regular season with 12 wins from their last 15 games and their 703 point-haul is the Townsville club's best since they reached the 2005 grand final.
But while their points tally was enough to get them into the finals, it did little to keep them in it as the flipside of their 2024 campaign reared its head on the biggest stage.
Throughout this year, the Cowboys have come undone in games where they failed to show up and looked lost at sea.
Three times in 2024 they conceded more than 40 points in a loss and amongst heavy defeats to Cronulla and Brisbane came a sizeable loss against a Warriors side who finished 13th.
When it comes to handling errors and missed tackles, the Cowboys rank in the top three on both fronts, and on Friday their sloppiness and fragility was often exploited by the Sharks.
Cronulla eased to a 24-0 lead at the break and nothing summed up the Cowboys' disorganisation better than utility forward Sam McIntyre hacking a clearance kick on the fifth tackle.
While they displayed some fightback in the second half, the damage had already been done.
"We showed a bit of fight and spirit in that second half but it might have been different story," Payten said.
"In the end, the way we started in that first half was too costly."
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