North Queensland coach Paul Green knows coaching gig isn't easy

PAUL Green can't avoid the pressure that comes with being coach of the Cowboys, he sees it every day in the eyes of his daughter.

EVEN if Paul Green wanted to avoid the pressure that comes with being coach of North Queensland Cowboys, he sees it every day in the eyes of his daughter Emerson.

Emerson, aged five, has never known her father not to coach his team to a premiership.

In the last three years, dad has coached Wynnum Manly to successive Intrust Super Cup crowns (2011, 2012) and last year helped guide the Sydney Roosters to the NRL title.

"All she knows is daddy's team winning grand finals," Green said.

"So I can't let my daughter down."

Jokes aside, Green has walked into one of the toughest gigs in the competition. The league loving region of north Queensland has yet to taste NRL premiership success and patience is running thin.

The talent is clearly there but the execution and consistency has been missing. That is what Green wants to fix.

"They proved, particularly at the back end of the year, that on their day they can certainly beat anyone," he said.

"For me it's just consistency that is the real key thing. That's been what I've wanted to bring in and what we're aiming for."

North Queensland Cowboys coach Paul Green. Photo: Evan Morgan

It has not been an easy start to Green's coaching career in the north.

Having relocated to Townsville just four days after winning the title as an assistant at the Roosters, Green juggled four months of preparations without a full staff or roster, with 12 players and four staff on various tours for the World Cup.

Then there was the scouting, hiring and relocation of new staff. In all, five fresh faces are in the football department - David Furner (assistant coach) and Mark Henry (assistant strength and conditioning coach) from Canberra, Josh Carius (performance analyst) and Andrew Croll (strength and conditioning coach) from Brisbane, and Clint Zammitt (recruitment manager), who returns to the club after a period as a player manager.

This week was the first time Green finally had everyone on deck.

"It's been really challenging to say the least," he said.

"That is my first experience at being a head coach of the program ... but I've enjoyed the challenges and am reasonably happy with where we are at," he said.

"I'm sure the pressure will come once we get into games."

North Queensland Coach Paul Green looks on.

Just how big that hype and pressure is in 2014 remains to be seen.

Last season it was off the charts and the players got swept up in it.

This year it won't be nearly as strong, with fans and punters both burnt before, Yet the roster is almost identical and the talent level high enough to challenge for the title.

"I'm not worried too much about what people have been saying about the Cowboys and the expectations on them," Green said.

"With the quality of player in the team there is always going to be expectation, the area loves their footy so they're obviously pretty passionate about how the team plays.

"The talk about what they were going to do last year, I don't think that helped anyone.

"We need to just get some consistency before we get anywhere near being a top four team. That is the first and foremost for me.

"Until we get into the routine of the season proper I'm not going to get a fair gauge of where we are at. That is how I'm approaching it, I'm not making any bold predictions about what we're going to be doing next year."