A lifelong friend of Paul Green is candid about their latest conversation, less than 48 hours before the NRL great was found dead in his garage.
The death of the 49-year-old player and premiership coach, who reportedly committed suicide at his Brisbane home on Thursday, has sent the football world into shock and mourning.
His death completely blinded family and friends, who said they had no idea he was in such a bad frame of mind.
They include Queensland construction magnate and BMD group chairman Mick Power, who has known Green for over three decades since he first sponsored the then-schoolboy prodigy.
“There’s just no rhyme or reason for what happened. It’s just surreal. The whole mental health problem is so hard to understand,” Power told the courier post.
The sports world is still reeling from the shocking death of NRL great Paul Green (pictured with wife Amanda)
The pair also shared a bond as proud, longtime Wynnum residents.
Power later sponsored him when Green became a coach of the North Queensland Cowboys and the Queensland Maroons, with the BMD group name and logo on his coaching boxes.
Power later offered him a role as BMD Group ambassador when Green stepped down as Cowboys coach in 2022.
Green spent the next two years in Australia talking about leadership and had designed a wellness app that was successfully trialled at BMD and was close to public release at the time of Green’s tragic death.
Power revealed that he briefly caught up with his big buddy at Wynnum Golf Club on Tuesday night before rushing to attend the opening of the Cinderella musical in Brisbane.
Green had no idea he was in a dark place when he told Power that he would be taking his family to the Gold Coast the next day for his son Jed’s ninth birthday after betraying them to the Ekka. -agricultural show on Brisbane’s public holiday.
“I’ll always look back and think I wish I’d stayed and had a few beers. But I didn’t notice anything at all,” said Power.
Green was one of the stars of the Commonwealth Bank Cup team at Wynnum-Manly State High School when he first met the businessman after Power came to the rescue of the players by buying their jerseys and socks.
After the team won the prestigious title, a radiant Green broke the rules by wearing famous Power’s BMD logo on the front of his shirt as they returned to a hero’s welcome in Brisbane and made the front page of the Courier Mail.
Construction mogul Mick Power (pictured) last saw his big size on Tuesday night, less than 48 hours before Green’s tragic death
Paul Green smashes the glass from the coach’s box after the North Queensland Cowboys win the 2015 NRL premiership with his lifelong partner Mick Power’s logo in the background
BMD Group shared the image on its Facebook page and authorized Daily Mail Australia to use as Power an emotional tribute, looking back on his friendship with Green, as he described it as a sad time for all.
“To the rugby league fraternity, to which Paul devoted himself from such a young age as a player and then as a coach, as well as to the Wynnum Manly community to which he and his family have been a huge contributor. Paul has somehow left a lasting impact on the lives of so many people,” Power wrote.
“For me personally, Greeny was a buddy. I have the highest regard for him and have long appreciated his friendship and loyalty. I have been following Greeny in all his endeavors for over 30 years, from sponsoring him as a player in Wynnum Manly Seagulls under 16 to our major sponsorship of him as a coach with the Cowboys and Queensland Maroons.
“He did well, was talented in so many ways and I admired him for his unique ability to influence everyone he came into contact with. Our deepest and deepest thoughts are with Amanda, their children Emerson and Jed, and the extended Green family.”
A teenage Paul Green (left) famously wore the BMD Constructions logo on his shirt after coming home after winning the Commonwealth Bank Cup with Wynnum-Manly State High School. It marked the beginning of a lifelong friendship with Mick Power
Paul Green (with wife Amanda) told Mick Power that he would be taking his family to the Gold Coast on Wednesday to celebrate son Jed’s ninth birthday.
Power has vowed to roll out the employee engagement and wellness platform Green designed in his honor that he says could become “bigger than Ben Hur.”
“Lately, Greeny has been coaching our leaders and his tragic loss hurts the entire BMD family. His legacy will be left behind in the employee engagement and wellness program he has anchored in our company,” said CEO Scott Power.
“We have lost a true legend and are focused on supporting our people to cope with this tragedy”
Heartbroken NRL figures have urged men to open up about their mental health struggles following Green’s tragic death.
They include coaching legend Wayne Bennett, who recently offered Green an assistant coach job at new NRL club Redcliffe Dolphins next season.
Green also got interest from the Gold Coast Titans about a possible role.
Bennett begged men struggling with inner demons to talk to someone, assuring it’s okay to show vulnerability.
“Let us know, because if you open up and talk about your problems, you will realize that you are loved and loved much more than you give credit for. Talk to someone you trust, but please just talk to someone. Have that conversation,’ he said.
‘Because this (Green’s death) helps no one; this hurts us all.’
Wayne Bennett (pictured left with Paul Green) has urged men to open up about mental health issues after Green’s tragic death
Paul Green in his final season as North Queensland coach in 2020. His shirt features the company name founded by his lifelong friend Mick Power
Ex-NRL star and former teammate of Paul Green, Mat Rogers, has been candid about his own struggles with mental health following the death of his buddy. Rogers lost his own father, the best Steve, after he committed suicide in 2006
It comes as dual international Mat Rogers opened up about his own mental health struggles as he recalled his last meeting with former team-mate Green last weekend in Sydney, with whom he played at Cronulla in the 1990s.
“He seemed to be doing great. He was talking about new opportunities, about his new boat, where he wanted to go on vacation,” Rogers told the… courier post.
Rogers’ own father Steve, a great rugby league player, also committed suicide in 2006.
“I’ve had a hard time at times and was lucky that my brother and wife saw it and forced me to seek help,” said Mat.
“We have to find another way to handle it because there’s too much of this happening.
“It’s not just Greeny or sports people. It’s traditions, it’s mommies and daddies. It’s getting too common, way too common.”
If you or someone you know needs support, please contact Lifeline 131 114 or Beyond Blue at 1300 224 636