The David T story

Highly regarded Townsville Blackhawks under-20s coach David Tangata-Toa will join the North Queensland Toyota Cowboys coaching staff as an assistant to Paul Green in 2019.

Tangata-Toa replaces outgoing assistant Todd Payten, who departs to the club for the Warriors after four seasons in North Queensland.

Tangata-Toa joined the Blackhawks after guiding the Penrith Panthers to the preliminary final in the final season of the NYC in 2017 and continued that success with the Blackhawks in 2018.

His side finished the regular season as minor premiers before narrowly going down to the Norths Devils in last weekend's grand final at Suncorp Stadium.

The 37-year-old is also an assistant for Tonga and will be part of the coaching staff for the historic Test against Australia in Auckland on October 20.

Tangata-Toa joins current assistants David Fairleigh and Josh Hannay on Green's coaching staff.

Cowboys Director of Football Peter Parr said Tangata-Toa joining the club was a natural progression.

"He did very well with the Penrith under 20s, he got them to a preliminary final last year and carried that on by securing a minor premiership with the Townsville Blackhawks this year," Parr said.

"We couldn't have been more impressed with what he did with that playing group this season along with the coaching he has done of our academy players.

"We like to recruit from within our own system and coaches are no different to players. He's done a really good job at one of our affiliated clubs and we thought his skillset and personality suited the role that we had available."