Paul Green stunned at decision by Cowboys as he ponders new start
Paul Green opens up on his departure from the Cowboys, winning a premiership and his hopes for the future.
Only a matter of months ago, senior North Queensland officials broached the subject of a contract extension with Paul Green. The coach had one year remaining on his contract with the club and, despite the talk that he was on the way out, he had every reason to believe Cowboys officials were contemplating handing him a new deal.
It helps explain why Green was stunned midway through last week when those same officials decided it was time to bring an end to his tenure in Townsville. Green had spent seven years at the club, guiding them to their first premiership and another grand final after that. On Monday, as he digested the news that his time at the club was over, he rattled off all the things that gave him pride. It was a fair list too.
Premiership and grand final aside, there was a World Club Challenge, two Nines titles and three Dally M medallists on his watch.
“It surprised me,” Green said. “They had seriously talked to me about an extension. To do a complete 180 on that and say we are going to go in another direction, I was like, ‘where did that come from?’ I was gobsmacked.
“It has been a hell of a ride. It has been unbelievable. It has been very good for the community and the town. This is not me — it is the club. It has brought hope to a town that has been doing it tough.”
Green deserves as much credit as anyone for galvanising the city. He walked into the joint to replace Neil Henry and won a premiership in his second year in charge, working in tandem with the genius of Johnathan Thurston.
The early days were about success. It all came easy, though in truth no one worked harder. Of late, it has only looked difficult. Results spiralled and speculation became Green’s constant companion.
Coaches ultimately control their destiny with how their teams perform on the field and Green was losing his vice-like grip on the club. They finished 13th in 2018 and 14th in 2019. This year, they had won only three games through nine rounds when the decision was made by the board that 2020 would be his last.
Green chose to go straight away, though he insisted on one for the road as he almost inspired a young team to a win over the high-flying Panthers last weekend.
“Paul was given the option to stay until the end of the season but we wanted to make the announcement,” chair Lewis Ramsay said.
“By his own hand and own character, he thought it would be best for him to go now because he didn’t want the distraction to remain with the squad. He thought it would give the side and the club some clear air. We couldn’t disagree with that.”
The one constant in recent years has been the talk that Green had lost the playing group. Last year, The Australian carried a story that he had had cross words with captain Michael Morgan.
Green insisted a mountain had been made out of a molehill. With the side struggling, Green was confronted by another story at the weekend suggesting he and Morgan were at odds.
It grated on him because he believed myths were being perpetuated. In his own mind, it vindicated his decision to walk away rather than stay until the end of the year.
“I just think it is a no-win situation,” said Green, who spoke to the players as a group and then individually on Monday. “If we lose or we go through a period of bad performances — we have had enough of those this year — then all of a sudden the player unrest stuff starts to come out, people say he is not the coach next year, why doesn’t he go now.
“There would be more noise around the club that the club doesn’t need. There was another story in the paper the other day about me and ‘Morgs’ again — it was just bullshit.
“That takes it out of it. There is not that pressure on the team or the club now. I am not a distraction for them.”
Ask Green why the performances have suffered in recent years and he rightly apportions some of the blame to the injury problems that have blighted his recent tenure. Last weekend, there was more than $3m of talent on the sidelines. Morgan has barely played this season.
“We just can’t get a consistent team on the paddock to start with, and one that has enough experience,” Green said.
“I know everyone has injuries. You have to understand how that impacts how your team plays.
“Manly lost Tom Trbojevic, one player, and they lost two or three in a row. They only lost one player. Look at the players we haven’t had.”
Green will walk into another job. He, like so many other coaches who hail from Queensland, covets the Brisbane Broncos position, having made five appearances for the club as a player in his final season.
He has already been linked with Cronulla, another club where he played with distinction. The Warriors are a sleeping giant and Green has already woken one of them. His record and reputation are likely to quickly make him a coach in demand.
“Does it give me comfort? I am not worried about not getting another job,” Green said.
“I am not blowing my own trumpet but my record speaks for itself. By the looks of it, there is going to be plenty of jobs up.
“It doesn’t give me comfort because I probably had my head around the challenge to steer us through this period and bring us out the other side.
“I will get my head around that and move on to the next challenge, whatever that may be.”
Chances are it will be at another NRL club soon. For one of the few times on Monday, Green managed a laugh at the thought.
“There must be something wrong with me,” he said.
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