Paul Green’s family open up on tragic death, ahead of Wynnum Manly-Easts Tigers tribute match

Paul Green’s sudden death rocked the rugby league world. Now one year on, ahead of a memorial day at Kougari Oval, his wife hopes CTE awareness can help protect other NRL stars.

Paul Green’s wife Amanda is still coming to terms with her husband’s loss.

“The pain will never totally go away.”

With those words, Paul Green’s brother Rick succinctly sums up the raw emotion that still lingers 12 months on from the tragic passing of the former Cowboys and Queensland Origin coach.

But on Sunday, the rugby league family will gather to honour ‘Greeny’s’ legacy when the two clubs he starred for, Wynnum Manly and Easts Tigers, clash in the Paul Green Medal Memorial Day at Kougari Oval.

The day of fun and fondness will not only represent a tribute to Green’s achievements in the code, but also raise awareness and money for the brain disease that played a role in his death.

In the weeks after his loss, the 49-year-old was diagnosed with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a fatal brain illness associated with repeated knocks to the head.

Paul Green (left) and Ben Ikin during their partnership at Wynnum Manly.

Green’s wife Amanda admits she initially had second thoughts about whether their son Jed, 11, should continue to play rugby league, but she has appealed for participants not to walk away from the sport that coursed through her husband’s veins.

One of his closest mates, Ben Ikin, will be front and centre at Kougari, the scene of Green’s funeral last year. The Queensland Rugby League boss will take on the very role Green relished, putting on the coach’s hat to call the shots for the Wynnum Legends team against their Tigers counterparts.

“It’s going to be an important day,” Ikin said.

“Paul is still sorely missed by many people.

“Paul was a man with a big brain who knew how to use it both as a player and coach and whatever else he turned his hand to in life.

“This Sunday is a chance to celebrate his life, what he stood for and to shine a light on the CTE condition he was battling that led to his passing.”

Rick Green admits he and parents Patricia, 83, and Ned, 94, are still coming to terms with the shattering loss of the man who delivered the Cowboys’ maiden premiership in 2015.

Rick Green says the pain of losing his brother will never go away.

“I took mum and dad out for dinner on the anniversary of Paul’s passing,” Green said.

“It was nice of us to remember Paul’s memory.

“It was such an odd situation what happened with Paul. Dad is pretty quiet sometimes. Mum is going OK, but it’s just something you never expect to deal with.

“I have tried to keep myself busy, but there are moments where it all overcomes you and it becomes very difficult.

“The pain will never go away totally.

“Paul played for Wynnum and Easts and he won premierships as a coach at Wynnum, there’s so many great connections on the day, so it will be a nice way to celebrate his memory.”

The danger of CTE is becoming more prevalent in contact sports.

Rugby league legends Mario Fenech and Ray Price have been diagnosed with early onset dementia, while Queensland Origin great Wally Lewis revealed last month he was suffering probable CTE.

The NRL world was plunged into mourning last year when it emerged Green had suddenly taken his life. His subsequent CTE diagnosis helped wife Amanda make sense of some changes she had detected in the veteran of 162 first-grade games.

“To be honest, those first couple of months were an absolute blur,” Amanda told Triple M’s Rush Hour show ahead of the Paul Green Memorial Day.

Paul Green’s wife Amanda is still coming to terms with her husband’s loss.

“Instantly your whole life is changed. Your future, your dreams, everything changes overnight.

“It’s been pretty tough and there’s been some tough triggers along the way, just little things like sitting down as a family to have dinner and the seat at the head of the table is empty.

“What happened that day 12 months ago was so out of the blue, so left field, we just couldn’t get our heads around it, so to have that CTE diagnosis was everything really.

“I could look back and see those changes in Paul, because there had been some behavioural changes in Paul.

“There were moments that weren’t him. It wasn’t the guy that I had married. He had lost a bit of his spark. A lot of those changes we put down to the high-pressure environment he worked in, who would want to be an NRL coach, seriously?

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t wish I knew then what I know now about CTE.

“Maybe we could have got more time with Paul, that’s why this education and awareness is so important, so we don’t suffer in silence.

“Sunday is a wonderful opportunity for us to come together and celebrate. I can’t think of two better clubs than Wynnum Manly and Easts Tigers, who mean so much to the Green family.”

Leading sports neurologist Dr Rowena Mobbs, who has treated a host of rugby league players, said all codes could honour Green’s legacy by heralding a new age of sporting safety.

Brain-trauma expert Rowena Mobbs has diagnosed a number of NRL stars with CTE.

Mobbs has diagnosed early onset dementia in former stars Mark Carroll, James McManus, Fenech, Price, Lewis and Robbie O’Davis.

She also gave evidence at the senate inquiry into concussion and repeated head injury and urged sporting codes to let the government take the lead when it came to dealing with the issue.

Mobbs also wants sporting bodies to be held accountable and unanimity in the protocols across elite and grassroots sport.

“Our children should commence contact sport as late as practicable for the maintained enjoyment of that sport,” she said.

“To minimise brain injuries, they should learn safe tackling as late as possible. They should avoid any training head injury, either direct – like hits – or indirect – like whiplash – where possible.

“Sporting organisations need to be held accountable, whether this takes the form of codes of conduct, or stringent regulation and legislation.

“Elite and grassroots levels should, equally, have a national set of protocols that never sway without scientific reason and are shared across sports.

“No parent should have to sign their child into a sport who doesn’t understand the next sport’s protocols.

“While we’re at it, we could educate our children on a healthy brain for life.”

Amanda Green is reluctant to blame rugby league for the Green tragedy.

“My son plays rugby league, so we need to understand more on how this disease works for the next generation of athletes so we can protect their brains and their brain health,” she said.

“What I saw Paul go through the last few years, it’s tough, because this is a preventable brain disease.

“For me, how do I make that decision on Jed’s behalf (to stop him playing rugby league?

“I know I’m his mother but he is a busy young man who loves playing the game.

“What we need to understand is it’s not just rugby league.

Paul Green celebrates the Cowboys’ historic premiership win in 2015 with wife Amanda and their two young children.

“CTE is from repeated head trauma. Many AFL players, soccer players, rugby union players, BMX riders, NFL players … there seems to be a problem with military personnel who have suffered in war zones.

“It’s not just rugby league, it’s a wider problem we should be concerned about.

“Jed’s first game back at footy, walking in with Jed and seeing all the dads there with their sons and Jed not having his, it was really tough, but we’re getting there.

“I have such a big responsibility to show these kids that we can still smile, we can still enjoy life and make memories.

“Yes, Paul is not there like we planned, but it’s OK, we can still have fun.”

Ikin is adamant every scintilla of Green’s spirit will be captured at Kougari.

“I hope Sunday is everything that Paul was,” he said.

“In the main game, both teams have legitimate chances of winning the Hostplus Cup this year and that summed up Greeny.

“He was highly competitive, he wanted to win, he wanted to be there at the business end of the season and we, as his mates, will be there to have some fun, because while Greeny was smart, intelligent, capable and highly competitive, he also liked a good time.

“So I hope everyone who gets out there on Sunday enjoys the day as much as he would have.

“More than anything, Paul was just a good family man.”

Originally published as Paul Green’s family open up on tragic death, ahead of Wynnum Manly-Easts Tigers tribute match