Tonight, the rugby league community is in collective mourning following the announcement of the death of Paul Green. A champion halfback, Green played over 160 first grade games, seven State of Origin matches for Queensland, and represented Australia during Super League.

In retirement, Green turned to coaching, and famously led North Queensland to their first and so far only premiership victory. In 2015 the Cowboys defeated Brisbane in extra time in one of the classic grand finals. Perhaps even more impressive was Green’s effort to get North Queensland to the grand final in 2017 without injured co-captains Johnathan Thurston and Matt Scott.

Paul Green had so much still to offer as a coach, and was signed as an assistant to the new Dolphins club for the 2023 season under the tutelage of the legendary Wayne Bennett.

The passing of Paul Green, as tragic as it is, gives the rugby league community a chance to ask serious questions about the mental health of its players, coaches, referees and administrators.

The pressures on the participants in rugby league are exacerbated by social media. Pundits, sometimes annoyed by exorbitant salaries of players, take out their frustrations without a true thought to the implications it could have on those reading their tweets and posts. We’ve recently even seen players trolled by ‘fans’ who have missed out on betting winnings. It has to stop.

While out game rightly has rounds celebrating Aboriginal culture and women in league, maybe it’s time we had a round to eliminate the stigma around mental health. In a few weeks in Australia we have R U OK? Day. It’s a question that should be asked every day of the year.