Robert Craddock: Paul Green’s secret plane flight with Olympic legend Samantha Riley
An Olympic swimming legend has revealed how she didn’t even tell her mother about a secret grade 12 excursion … going flying with Paul Green.
Olympic swimmer Samantha Riley has revealed how she didn’t even tell her mother about a secret grade 12 excursion … going flying with Paul Green.
Riley, Australia’s best female breaststroker of the 1990s and the world swimmer of the year in 1994, was Wynnum-Manly State High School’s female sports captain and developed a mateship with Green, who held the equivalent role for the boys.
Green’s suicide last week has rocked the close knit former students of the bayside school and Riley treasures special memories of her former classmate in their final year.
“Greeny got his pilot’s licence really early,’’ Riley said.
“I think he had it before he got his driver’s licence in our last year at school. I remember him coming and picking myself and another friend up and we went to Archerfield, he took us up flying.
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“It was amazing. I remember I did not even tell my mother what my plans were for that day … flying with Greeny. We had the best time.
“I have teenage kids and I would be furious if they tried that. I mean just jumping in each other’s cars is nerve-wracking. Imagine if they suddenly jumped in a plane?
“But we did it. And I also went sky-diving with Greeny. We were good mates but there were also a lot of people at school who were much closer to him than me.
“We all went through a lot together and we remained good mates all these years later which doesn’t always happen with schoolmates. So many of them still live in Wynnum and a lot are still involved in sport.
“This is the year where we are all turning 50 so there were some really great celebrations ahead. I know he planned to fly everyone in for his 50th birthday (on September 12).
“He was a high achiever at everything he did. He played the violin. He was a contradiction in some ways. He was very athletic, intelligent and funny. This is such a shock because he was surrounded by a lot of people who really loved him.’’
“I did not see much of him after he moved to Townsville to coach the Cowboys but we had some recent nights out with him and Amanda. It’s just so sad.’’
Brutal challenges of life after hooter
Only last month I asked a recently sacked NRL coach to name one thread of his life that has completely changed in his new, quieter world.
“The weekends,’’ he replied. “You go for decades with those days being the most pressurised and well organised part of your life then suddenly everything vanishes and you have to think of what to do on the weekends because you never actually had to plan for them. It feels strange.’’
It was a small insight into the all-consuming world of top grade coaching and the giant gap and countless loose threads it leaves flapping in the breeze when it passes.
The tragic sudden death of admired coach Paul Green has shone a light on the fact that the greatest, most long lasting challenge faced by top coaches — even more than the pressures of the job — is adjusting back to a normal life when the spotlight moves away from you.
A legacy of Green’s passing should be that more attention is paid by sports to life beyond the big time.
For players, this issue has been an increased focus but for coaches it never seems the same priority.
Perhaps because they are older and have seen the system from all angles there is an assumption they know how to bounce along when the tide goes out.
History tells us otherwise.
The AFL has been chastened over the past decade by the suicide of former Richmond coach Danny Frawley, of Essendon coach James Hird spending five weeks in a psychiatric facility after a meltdown following his club’s peptide scandal and Geelong’s premiership coach Mark Thompson convicted for drug possession.
These were the high profile cases. Behind the scenes there were many other mentors in both codes whose struggles were less obvious but still immensely challenging.
Former Cowboys chairman Laurence Lancini told News Corp Green had felt a bit “lost and confused’’ since his club and state coaching roles had come to an end and he was not alone in feeling this sentiment.
The challenges in the coaching job, as intense as they are, have a pulse that cannot be replicated in later life.
Even the television commentary world can seem less stimulating, with one coach saying “it’s all good but you never win or lose a game in the commentary box so your emotions never reach the high of when you are coaching a team.’’
And of routine life “even a happy, pleasant life seems mundane compared to what you went through as a coach. What would normally pass as a comfortable life can lack a bit of snap and crackle and feel quite mundane.’’
While Green was set to make a coaching comeback as an assistant to Wayne Bennett at the Dolphins it was not the lofty heights he scaled as an NRL premiership coach with the Cowboys in 2019.
But such was his coaching nous that could easily have been his first step on the road back to the top of the mountain.
Green tragedy: Walters’ plea for more mental health help
Broncos coach Kevin Walters has urged the NRL to provide more mental health support following the sudden death of Queensland league icon Paul Green.
Green was found dead in his Brisbane home on Thursday morning, aged 49, after taking his own life.
The death of Green, a 162-game first grader who coached the North Queensland Cowboys to their first NRL premiership in 2015, has rocked the game.
Walters and Green had a 30-year relationship as Queensland Origin teammates and rivals on the field for their respective clubs.
Green severed ties with the Cowboys in 2020, went head-to-head with Walters for the Broncos’ job that year and coached Queensland’s Origin team for one series last year.
At the time of his death, Green was in talks with the Dolphins to become an assistant to Wayne Bennett (see below) for the Redcliffe club’s launch next year.
Walters pleaded for the NRL to increase its mental health support for players, coaches and support staff in the wake of Green’s death.
“It’s very sad news,” Walters said.
“I was fortunate enough to play Origin football with ‘Greeny’ and had many battles against him during his days at the Sharks and Cowboys.
“My feelings go out to his family, friends and everyone involved with Paul. It’s just so sad.
“It’s important we check on each other each day – particularly with the mental health side of things.
“It’s something I believe the NRL needs to put more focus on, particularly around our players, coaches and support staff. Everyone that’s involved in the game.
“We need to make sure there’s someone there for you if you want to reach out.”
The death of Green has reignited calls for an NRL coaches’ association to be formed following previous unsuccessful launches.
Green coached the Cowboys from 2014-2020, leading the club to two grand finals in 167 games for 87 wins (52.1 per cent).
After three lean seasons, he severed ties with North Queensland and returned to Brisbane’s bayside, narrowly missing the Broncos’ top job to club legend Walters.
Green succeeded Walters as Queensland’s Origin coach for one turbulent series last year before relinquishing the role to pursue a fulltime NRL coaching gig. He was not coaching at the elite level this year.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson handed Green an assistant’s role in 2013, following his dual premiership success at Wynnum-Manly in 2011-12, and they clinched the NRL title together that year before he secured the Cowboys’ top job.
Robinson has been a strong advocate for coaches, particularly those without a job, needing to be offered more support amid the high-pressure nature of the NRL.
Robinson did not want to reveal his thoughts in the wake of Green’s death, but urged people to speak up if they needed help.
“I’ve got my thoughts on that but I don’t want to go into that,” he said.
“I’ve had thoughts for a long time on that. I don’t want to go into it now.
“We had a discussion. We had a couple of photos up of Greeny and his time here in his roles. We spoke about what happened and our thoughts on Greeny.
“We spoke that you need to reach out. There’s a need to be open and talk about it more, not hide away what you’re feeling or the help you need.
“I don’t know the circumstances around Greeny and why (he took his life). It’s really sad and flat for Amanda, the kids and family.
“It highlights the personal side of what we do and the need for support.”
The NRL did not want to be drawn on calls for more mental health support due to the delicate nature of Green’s death.
However, ARLC chairman Peter V’landys urged people to speak out and seek help as the code grapples with the shock event.
“Extremely sad,” V’landys said on 2GB radio. “We were devastated yesterday when we heard the news. It just shows you how fragile life is and that we should take care of each other.
“If there is a message here, if people doubt themselves or have problems … speak about it, talk about it. We all go through doubting ourselves, we all go through some terrible times. But it doesn’t hurt to talk to somebody about it.
“This is the classic example. I hope if anything comes out of this – which is one of the saddest things I have been involved in rugby league – that people do reach out when they are troubled.”
Bennett’s offer to rejuvenate Greens’s career
Wayne Bennett has revealed he offered Paul Green a job to join his coaching staff at the Dolphins just days before the tragic death that has shocked the NRL world.
A devastated Bennett told News Corp Green was in the advanced stages of negotiations to join the super coach at the Dolphins next season as a fellow assistant with St Helens mentor Kristian Woolf.
Bennett believed Green could use a role at the Dolphins as a stepping stone to rejuvenating his career as an NRL head coach and confirmed he had met last week with the man who delivered the Cowboys their first premiership.
Bennett was shocked to learn of Green’s sudden death on Thursday morning, a matter of days after the pair met to thrash out a salary package at the Dolphins.
“Yes, I had spoken to Paul about coming to the Dolphins,” Bennett said.
“I wasn’t sure if he was coming, but we were in negotiations with him and I was pretty confident of Paul taking the job.
“We got to the point of discussing salary, so we were in the final stages and Greeny was seriously considering taking the job.
“Greeny never said, ‘I’m definitely coming’ but my plan was for him to be on board next year.
“I had two assistants ready to sign. I have another assistant in my mind and Greeny was going to be joining us.
“I worked with Paul as far back as 2000 at the Broncos, so I knew what he brought and I knew what type of bloke he was.
“He ticked all the boxes for me.”
Green was a playing member of Bennett’s famous 2001 Origin side that was inspired by Allan Langer’s return from England and the super coach was left reeling at news of his passing.
“I spoke to him just five days ago,” Bennett said.
“I didn’t sense anything untoward. We had a very normal conversation and a good conversation about him coming to the Dolphins.
“I’m shocked – there’s no doubt this has had a huge impact on the rugby league world.
“This guy made a tremendous contribution as a player, he was a very good player at Cronulla and he had a few years at the Broncos and then he coached at the Roosters and Wynnum Manly before going to the Cowboys.
“He wasn’t out of coaching too long, but he had a pretty traumatic experience with State of Origin last year.
“No-one, unless they have coached State of Origin, understands the expectation that comes with that role.
“It (his death) is simply unbelievable. I thought Greeny would be good for the Dolphins and I thought we would be good for him.
“I think Paul was a very good coach, he won a premiership as a head coach at the Cowboys and he won a couple of premierships with Wynnum, so I knew he had ability as a coach.
“I wanted him to bring what made him such a good coach. I thought we could have been a good team at the Dolphins.
“Paul was still a young man really, so we are all shocked by this.”
Bennett paid tribute to Green’s coaching ability and footballing intellect, saying he invented a kicking tactic that is now routinely used by NRL clubs.
“I only said to Greeny the other day, the kicks that go up to the wingers now in the NRL … it was Paul Green’s idea,” Bennett said.
“He was the instigator of it, he worked out the benefits of putting the ball in the air which gave the attackers time to contest for the ball.
“Everyone in the NRL does it today, but Paul was the architect of that.
“He was a smart bloke, he had a pilot’s licence. He had an interest in a lot of other things in life outside of rugby league.
“I remember when Paul was at the Broncos in his final years as a player, I told him if he wanted to coach, he needed to go away and run his own team. I knew he wanted to be a head coach and he did a wonderful job at Wynnum winning two premierships in a row.
“What can never be taken away is Paul bringing a premiership to the Cowboys, their first one.”
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