Trent Robinson reveals Paul Green was trying to find help for struggling NRL coaches before he died

Roosters boss Trent Robinson has revealed his friend Paul Green was trying to find help for struggling NRL coaches before his tragic death earlier this month.

Green was found dead at his home in Brisbane on August 11, aged 49, after taking his own life – with close mate Craig Greenhill recently revealing his friend struggled for direction without a coaching job. 

Robinson was among a who’s who of Australian sport paying their respects to the footy legend on Tuesday at Green’s beloved Wynnum Manly home ground, Kougari Oval, in Brisbane’s east. 

Paul Green with wife Amanda. The 49-year-old tragically took his own life earlier this month

Speaking at the funeral, Robinson said ‘we’ve got to do better’ when it comes to the welfare of NRL coaches.

The Roosters mentor, who has guided the club to three premiership victories, revealed Green was a driving force behind the formation of a coaches association to help support those who battle when their careers finish.

Green was a former Roosters player and assistant coach before moving to North Queensland, where he won a watershed NRL premiership with the Cowboys.

Roosters coach Trent Robinson arrives at Paul Green’s funeral. He revealed Green had been working on plans for a coaching association to better support those in the industry

Robinson said Green’s tragic passing ‘highlighted that we don’t know what to do’ when it comes to struggling former coaches that have been sacked from club or representative football.

‘We don’t know how to support [them] and we’ve got to be better at that,’ he said at the service, which featured a strong contingent of current and former Roosters.

‘There’s not that many people that [coach in the NRL] and people don’t know how to act or know what you actually do or the intricacies of the job.

‘So that when it finishes we just think their team didn’t win enough or their time was up or whatever it was – and we don’t know how to support them.’

Paul Green holds the Provan-Summons Trophy aloft after winning the 2015 premiership with the North Queensland Cowboys

Robinson revealed coaches had been working since 2016 to try and put together the association, which could help support past mentors – and said Green had been working closely with him to make it a reality prior to his passing.

‘We’ve been trying for a few years and Greeny and I spoke about it a lot over the years, about how do we improve this … but it’s just not in place at the moment,’ he said.

‘I know talking to [Green’s wife] Amanda that was a part of making sure there is more support. There’s a lot more than just 16 coaches and we have to support that more than what we are doing.

‘We’ve been pushing for a long time to set it up and discussed this since 2016. We’ve been putting together an association for coaches around education and wellbeing.’

Former Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston, who was crucial to the club’s 2015 premiership, arrives to pay tribute to his former coach

Robinson then made an impassioned plea to ensure such an association gets off the ground – because it could be vital for coaches like Green who are struggling with their mental health.

‘It hasn’t quite come to fruition yet because of finances and differences of opinion around what the structure of that should be. But it needs to be there in some form.’

Green was sacked by the Cowboys in 2020, despite famously leading the club to their maiden premiership in 2015 and putting on a coaching masterclass to guide an injury-ravaged side to the 2017 grand final.

Paul Green coached the Cowboys to their maiden premiership before taking on Maroons role

He was also brutally axed by the Maroons after just one series in 2021, despite Queensland managing to win the final match. 

It followed a storied playing career, with the diminutive halfback playing 162 NRL matches, primarily for Cronulla, as well as 10 matches for Queensland and three Tests for Australia.

He also received the Rothmans Medal (now known as the Dally M) in 1995 for being the best player in the league, despite it being only his second season at the top level.

Paul Green playing for the Roosters in 2001. The Queensland-native played 162 NRL games

Greenhill, who first played with Green in the under-8s at Wynnum, with the pair inseparable ever since, said earlier this month that the former NRL legend had been privately struggling with his mental health in the 18 years since retiring from playing.

He said his mate’s mental demons had worsened since he left coaching. 

‘I don’t think he was being treated properly. It scares me to think what was going through his head,’ Greenhill told the Courier Mail on August 20.

NRL immortal Wally Lewis echoed the sentiments of Robinson and Greenhill at the funeral.

Wally Lewis pays his respects to Paul Green at Tuesday’s funeral in Brisbane

‘The King’ coached at Queensland Cup, NRL and State of Origin level just like Green and knows the feelings that come from being sacked.

‘It’s a very difficult time, having been there and done that I can understand the drama and the disappointment,’ Lewis said.

‘He got to win a premiership, I got to come last or second last, not that that is an amusing point.

‘A lot of the football players, we think we are big, tough, strong, but we do struggle the same way as everybody else. We’ve got to ask for help when we need it,’ said Lewis.

An accomplished media performer since leaving the coaching ranks, Lewis then called on the industry to lighten up on sacked coaches, who would no doubt be struggling in the public eye.

Current coaches Brad Fittler and Todd Payten paid their respects to Green on Tuesday

‘A lot of players are saying at the moment that the media are the ones that put the pressure on,’ Lewis said.

‘Having been there and done that and now working in the media, I can see what it’s all about. I can see the strength of the players dismay.

‘When someone in the media gets sacked I’m sure there isn’t going to be criticism all over the place.

‘I’ve got an understanding of what it’s all about working [at Channel Nine] and I plead with [all media] just to go a bit lighter.

‘It’s a very tough game the one that we’re in and we don’t take anything else except success,’ said Lewis.

Green’s former Broncos teammate Ben Ikin said at the funeral it was Green’s caring and genuine nature that allowed him to be successful as a coach.

‘I always felt when Paul engaged in conversation, he cared about what you thought and said. And that part of his character enabled him to inspire a group of men at the Cowboys to their premiership in 2015,’ Ikin told the media.

Green’s former Broncos teammate Ben Ikin said the caring nature of his good friend was a big part of how he had success with the North Queensland Cowboys – culminating in the 2015 premiership

Green left behind wife Amanda and young children Emerson and Jed, with all three bravely reading out touching, and at times hilarious, tributes to their beloved father and husband.

‘I feel incredibly blessed to have been married to Paul for the past 15 years. He truly was the most amazing husband who I will miss dearly. We had the deepest love and the happiest marriage and he always made me feel truly supported,’ Amanda Green said at the funeral, which was livestreamed. 

Amanda Green arrives at the funeral for her late husband with children Jed and Emerson, with the trio all delivering touching tributes

Emerson said her father ‘loved to bust a move, he was always ready to sing and dance even if we were out in public’, while Jed thanked Green for ‘being the best Dad ever. 

Green’s family also recently announced they would be donating his brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank to see if he was suffering from the debilitating concussion trauma injury known as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

CTE, which currently can only be diagnosed after death, can manifest in symptoms such as depression, suicidal ideations, memory loss and impaired judgement.

AFL legend, and another former coach who struggled with severe mental health issues, Danny Frawley, was found to have been suffering from stage-two CTE before he took his own life in 2019.

The funeral brochure for Green said in lieu of flowers, the family would be grateful for donations to the Brain Bank. You can donate by ringing 1300 866 744 or by visiting the website at https://www.mycause.com.au/page/290298/in-memory-of-paul-green.  

For help in a crisis call 000. If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact Lifeline 13 11 14, or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636.