"The Newcastle deal, I just couldn't knock that back," Payne told The Townsville Bulletin.

"I would have loved to have stayed at Fury, but not knowing what is going on with the club, you can't sit around and wait for too long.

"I've been holding off to see how the club's going but I couldn't wait around much longer. Everybody who gets offered a contract is going to take it."

Fury have already seen Justin Pasfield and Isaka Cernak tie up deals with Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne Victory for next season.