Payten laments Cowboys' loss to Cronulla

Payten conceded that his side didn't deserve to win on Friday, although they scraped back into the contest in the final 10 minutes.

After a brief capitulation by Cronulla, the Cowboys came within two points in the dying stages but Valentine Holmes' field goal attempt fell short and the home side suffered their first home defeat since round three.

Poor last tackle options, defensive mishaps and basic errors were all part of a 26-24 defeat, leaving Payten disheartened.

"I'm as frustrated as anyone because it's almost like a broken record of the first six weeks," he said post-match.

"We haven't put together a full match, let alone 50 to 60 minutes yet in 15 rounds, so it's it's disappointing, but I understand where we're at as a team and we're not even close yet."

With 36 points conceded on Friday, the Cowboys became the second team after Brisbane to allow over 400 points so far this season.

Yet Payten's side still find themselves in the NRL's top eight - not that the coach is impressed.

"We've had three losses where we've conceded 50 points, which is not NRL standard by any means," he said.

"We've won our games by small margins and we've only played for 50 minutes at most over 80 minute periods.

"We're always working on it but our goal line D in particular is not good enough."

A diamond in the rough of Friday's loss was a confident showing by newest recruit Tom Dearden, who bagged his first try for the club in his home debut.

But Payten said there wasn't anything else to take out of the loss.

"We got what we deserved," he said.

"To try and find a positive out of that game, I don't think it's fair on our group, I don't think its right to ... pardon my word... but piss in their pockets.

"It's not my style, it's definitely not Deano's (assistant coach Dean Young) style, it's not what we've been about as coaches.

"We're pretty honest and direct and we've got some hard conversations over the next 24 hours, no doubt."

Australian Associated Press