Former Wests Tigers assistant coach Todd Payten has found a new NRL home at North Queensland as Paul Green’s understudy.

Payten was turfed from Concord as part of a cleanout by new head coach Jason Taylor.

Cowboys football manager Peter Parr said Payten, who played 259 NRL games for Canberra, the Sydney Roosters and the Tigers, was a vital acquisition for the club.

“Todd is one of the best young coaches in the game and has already shown he can develop talented under-20s footballers into regular NRL players,” Parr said in a statement.

“He’ll enjoy working with North Queensland’s best youngsters, helping them take their games to the next level.

“The success he had with the Tigers isn’t easy to achieve, but he’ll be given every opportunity to do that here with the Cowboys.

“His addition gives us an outstanding coaching staff for the coming season.”

Payten coached the Tigers’ under-20s outfit to the 2011 National Youth Competition premiership and has coached NSW at Under-18s level.