Green remembers Bellamy in past life
TRAVIS MEYN PETER BADEL THEY say first impressions last and Paul Green reckons he didn’t make the greatest on Craig Bellamy.
It was midway through 2000 when Green lobbed at the Brisbane Broncos after being sacked by North Queensland.
Green, the 1995 Rothmans Medal winner, was looking to relaunch his NRL career under Wayne Bennett at the Broncos.
By Bennett’s side was Bella- my, an up-and-coming conditioning trainer and assistant with aspirations to be a head coach.
“I was actually at the Bron- cos when Craig was assistant coach to Wayne,” Green said. “He was what you see now. ‘‘He was very good at his job, hardworking and smart.
“He was the conditioning coach but that was before coaches had a couple of assistants. While he was doing the conditioning he was also helping Wayne a fair bit on the footy side of things.
“It wasn’t my best year. I was a long way off my best.
‘‘His memories of me as a player probably wouldn’t be that great.”
Green didn’t play a game for the Broncos that year, featuring for the Toowoomba Clydesdales in the Queensland Cup before an ankle injury cut his season short.
He moved on to the Roosters in 2001 before eventually returning to Brisbane for a final NRL season in 2004.
Bellamy had left the Broncos to become head coach of the Storm in 2003 and Green never got the opportunity to make a second impression.
Seventeen years on, Bellamy and Green will go head-tohead in the grand final at ANZ Stadium tomorrow night.
Bellamy, preparing for his seventh decider as Storm coach, has been impressed.
“They are playing for each other and playing a style of footy where they don’t just go away,’’ Bellamy said.
“The travel adds to the significance of what the Cowboys have achieved.
“It’s been quite remarkable even if you take the travel out of it.”