(AAP)
Paul Green was a halfback in his playing days, renowned for his toughness and savvy. Think a slightly less decorated Ben Hunt.
He arrived in first grade just as rugby league in Australia had a a seismic split in the form of the Super League war of the mid-90s.
Playing for Cronulla at the time, Green led the Sharks to the 1997 Super League grand final, where they lost to the Broncos. He also played in Australia’s Anzac Test against New Zealand that year.
When the leagues reformed as the National Rugby League 1998, he made his State of Origin debut for Queensland a year later, handed the difficult job of playing in the seven for a Maroons side drifting after the departure of Alfie Langer.
After finishing his playing career in Brisbane in 2004, Green immediately moved into an assistant role with the Broncos, and had stints in the Queensland Cup with Wynnum Manly, before leading the Roosters’s under-20s to the preliminary finals in 2013.
He got his first NRL head coaching gig the following year when he took over from Neil Henry at the North Queensland Cowboys.
In 2015 he led them to a famous victory over Brisbane in the grand final for the club’s first premiership, and guided them to a runner-up finish in 2017.
After leaving the club in 2020, he coach the Maroons for the 2021 State of Origin series.
Source:: ABC News
