A frustrated Todd Payten has slammed his Cowboys stars, explaining North Queensland lost because “too many guys missed their assignment” against the Broncos.

Kevin Walters’ Broncos outfit were able to keep their slim finals hopes alives with their 42-18 win, but it’s a familiar story for Payten.

Despite beating the Tigers in Round 22, he cut a disappointed figure and said that at one point in that clash his team “went to sleep”.

“A little disappointed with some periods there when they were down to 12 men,” he said at the time.

“Mixed feelings to be fair … Some frustrating moments definitely.”

When asked what he thought of his side’s most recent performance, Payten gave a blunt assessment.

“I thought at 18-6 we were in control of the game, a couple of big turning points. The try they scored before half time really swung it,” Payten said.

“The game was there for us to kick on with and we weren’t good enough, and that’s really disappointing. We let down ourselves, the fans.

“Definitely let down the old boys, it’s a big occasion for our club this game, old boys weekend. It hurts.

“But across the group we had too many guys miss their assignment and some guys missed it on multiple occasions. So that’s the disappointing part.”

When asked if he’d be making any changes to his outfit, Payten replied “potentially” before his team’s chances of making the finals were raised.

North Queensland sat in sixth place prior to Round 23, however after both the Sea Eagles and Bulldogs won, they’ve dropped to seventh.

“Yeah, it makes… yep, I hate losing here at home, I really do,” Payten said.

“It was an opportunity for us at 18-6 which makes it hurt even more and there’s a log jam of teams.

“You need to find ways to win and get it done when it really matters. This game and the Manly games are games we’ve fallen short.

“Tonight we fell short quite considerably which is disappointing.”