North Queensland have been in constant contact with those stationed at NRL headquarters this week.
The club was issued with a breach notice on Friday after their trainer Mitch Dunn was caught red-handed engaging in illegal tactics during the Cowboys’ draw with Penrith in Round 10.
The club's imposed fine followed on from a final warning dished out to Todd Payten earlier in the week.
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Cowboys coach Todd Payten responds to NRL’s final warning
The head coach was given a clip around the ear by the NRL as they highlighted his "repeated and consistent criticism of match officials".
The short media statement provided by the NRL claimed Payten was a repeat offender dating back to 2020, with his latest indiscretion coming last week.
Following his side’s high-scoring draw with the Panthers, a journalist put it to Payten that the referee had appeared to put their whistle away during the closing stages of the contest.
Payten agreed with this assessment before he criticised a soft penalty for a high shot against Murray Taulagi.
"A bloke fell into his chest," Payten argued. "Then Viliami Vailea, a few minutes later, got his head taken off. It was right in front of the touch judge. There was no call there and that was wrong.
"It’s so frustrating," he continued.
"We want consistency and we’re not getting it. I’m confused about what a high shot is and what’s not.
"I’ll talk to the NRL through the week and go through the right channels, but it’s just white noise. They’ll say, 'Yeah, we got that one wrong,' but no one is held accountable for it."
Those comments provoked the NRL into issuing Payten a final warning for his conduct during his post-match press conferences.
And now the 46-year-old has admitted he could have gone down a different avenue when expressing his dissatisfaction with the calls being made.
"I’ll acknowledge that my language at different points could have been better, and the message is loud and clear," Payten said.
"Our club has had several conversations with the NRL, and to be fair, it’s probably better communication we’ve had back and forth this week than any other week.
"They’ve heard our concerns and frustrations and we’ve got a bit of an explanation on different things," Payten added.
"So, from that point of view, I think it’s been a good outcome for the club. I’ve just got to make sure that I don’t dig us into a hole."