Off-field milestones mean most to Green
TWO Nines titles, two grand finals and a maiden premiership make an impressive resume but it is the unseen moments that have meant the most to Paul Green.
The Cowboys coach will head up to the coaches box for his 162nd game in charge tonight, surpassing the late Graham Murray as the club’s most-capped head coach.
He has been the most successful coach in the club’s 25year history, and the only one to have a winning rate above 50 per cent. But it is not the onfield glory, or the milestone achievements, that has driven the former player.
It is the personal milestones of his men, the growth off the field, that Green said he has been “privileged” to be part of.
“There has been lots of highlights (in my time) and it is not just about the big games you win,” he said.
“Giving guys their debuts. The last two weeks giving Tommy Gilbert his debut, that was a really special moment for him and this week it is Hamiso (Tabuai-Fidow).
“When you get to tell those kids they have been picked in the team, and they will make their debut, they are really great moments because you are sharing a really special moment for someone you coach.
“You know how hard guys work to get an NRL game. To play one is a huge achievement. To play a part in that is really good. You see boys grow into men, become husbands and fathers, and you hope in some small way you have been able to help along the way.
“I always said when I was a player, whenever I clicked with a coach, my life was always better on and off the field.
“I always played better and life away from the footy was better and I always thought the coach played a part in that.
“That is another big reason why I try to do that for the young blokes I am working with now.”
There is no denying the competitive streak is alive and well in the 47-year-old mentor.
From his early playing days in the Brisbane Rugby League through to his seven games for Queensland, Green has always had the drive to be successful on the field. That drive, and the mix of intelligence, has seen success follow him into his coaching career.
Green took childhood club Wynnum-Manly to back-toback Queensland Cup titles, before being an assistant to Trent Robinson when the Roosters clinched the 2013 premiership. The next year he was at the Cowboys.
It was bold for the Cowboys to take a punt on an untried coach, one that the club’s director of football Peter Parr believes has paid off in spades.
“We went through a really thorough process at the time. It was a really tough decision because we had some outstanding candidates at the time, Paul included,” Parr said. “For the panel, we thought his communication and the way he explained things was really good.
“He took over a squad who had a lot of talent and had already been well coached by Neil Henry and already had good principles around the way they played and trained … but he took that group and the club to another level.
“And we will be indebted to him about that.”
STAYING POWER: Paul Green will become the Cowboys’ most-capped coach tonight, passing the late Graham Murray’s record.