Paul White left Queensland’s biggest rugby league team during its biggest fall from grace but he’s arguably more positive than ever.
Key points:
- White is relishing an opportunity to fulfil a promise he made during his cancer battle
- The self-proclaimed country boy is reconnecting with regional Queensland in the hope of giving back
- He looks back fondly on the community work the Broncos achieved and hopes to leave a legacy for young people
Perhaps that’s because the self-proclaimed country boy — for the first time in a decade — has the time and freedom to reconnect with his roots.
Or maybe it’s the “peace” he’s found in fulfilling a promise he made, in the midst of cancer treatment, to give back.
White attributes his successes to lessons learned in the country: places like Charleville (where he was born), Rockhampton (where he was raised) or Mount Isa (where he was Senior Sergeant at the police station).
Six years ago, when he was diagnosed with brain cancer, White feared he wouldn’t see them again.
“I made a bit of a deal if He or She (God) keeps me down here a bit longer I’ll do some good,” he said.
White — now cleared of cancer — has made that his mission.
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Whether it’s helping to champion the outreach programs in Woorabinda or spruiking Broncos development programs in western Queensland or even coaching junior sport.
“I feel a bit obligated to give back,” he said.
Paul White stands with Deadly Choice mob in Mt Isa, Queensland.(
ABC News: Vanessa Gorman
)
Finding Peace
“Life after the Broncos has been much busier than I expected,” he said.
Paul White (left) with NRMA Insurance CEO Andy Cornish in August 2013.(
AAP: Dan Peled
)
No wonder; the 55-year-old has been saying “yes” to every opportunity presented to him.
It’s seen him become a modern-day renaissance man — if the cop-cum-CEO wasn’t that already.
“I set myself a task at the start of this year, where I wasn’t going to say no to anything,” he said.
“I actually put my hand up to coach for the first time in 16 years … [as] the assistant coach for Marist Ashgrove under 15 rugby league.”
White’s also been bouncing from consulting work to football coaching, from media work to guest speaking gigs around regional Queensland including one in late August that brought him back to Rockhampton.
“I always felt that small communities don’t get recognised for the work that they do,” he said.
“I reckon every community I’ve ever worked in has given me something back — whether it’s Middlemount where I was in charge of a two-man police station or Mount Isa where I ran a really large police station or Charleville where I was born.”
“I take a little bit of those communities everywhere I go.”
Remembering a privileged position
Despite the upheaval in 2020 and the disappointment of a wooden spoon in his final season with the club, White looks back fondly on his decade with the Broncos.
That’s because he’s more attached to the club’s off-field performances.
“We run mentoring programs for Indigenous women as far west as Charleville where I was born,” he said.
“That was a really nice thing to be able to go back and introduce those programs.”
Brisbane Broncos CEO Paul White at a Broncos community day.(
ABC News: Vanessa Gorman
)
White counts the Broncos’ work in regional Queensland among his proudest achievements.
“I try to carry the flag for regional Queensland,” he said.
“I’d like my legacy to be the young people that I’ve worked with and what they’ve gone on to achieve.
“Whether it’s as a footy coach in a small country town or whether that’s a player at the Broncos or whether that’s a staff member at a mining company I’m now working at.”
Source:: ABC News
