Rugby league coach Josh Hannay has described the industry as “brutal” while reflecting on the sudden death of his “friend and mentor” Paul Green.
Key points:
Josh Hannay took over as Cowboys coach in 2020 after Paul Green stood down mid-season
Hannay and Green had both spent time in coaching roles with the Maroons in the past two seasons
The two had caught up on the weekend during a Cronulla reunion
Police said Green, 49, died by suicide on Thursday morning.
“I’ve spent the last 12 hours or so trying to comprehend what’s happened, why it’s happened,” Hannay told ABC Radio Brisbane on Friday morning.
“This industry we’re in, right, it’s a brutal industry.
“I know that on a professional level, the last few years have been really challenging for Greenie, given what happened at the Cowboys and with Queensland.”
Green left the Cowboys midway through the 2020 season after recording three wins from the first 10 games, with Hannay stepping in as interim coach.
Last year Green coached Queensland in the State of Origin and stepped down after the Maroons lost the series.
Hannay said the industry was either “lifting you up or tearing you down.”
“The highs are the highest of highs and the lows are the lowest of lows,” he said.
Green was at the helm of the Cowboys when the team won its first premiership in 2015.
Hannay, who played with Green and later became his assistant coach, said he caught up with his “friend and mentor” at a Cronulla Sharks reunion in Sydney on Saturday.
“It was great to see Greenie. I hadn’t seen him in about a year,” Hannay said.
“It was always good fun having a beer with Greenie. Life of the party. Plenty of good stories.
“I feel really fortunate now, given the circumstances, that I got to have that time with Greenie on Saturday night.”
Hannay said Green loved the song It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere by Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffett.
John Cartwright was given an opportunity at the Cowboys under Paul Green, after he was let go by the Gold Coast Titans.(AAP Image/Action Photographics: Colin Whelan)
“I can hear him now singing it. It didn’t matter where you were, he’d find some way to get that song over the speakers,” Hannay said.
“I’ll be playing that song at some point today.”
A minute’s silence will be held across all NRL games this round to remember Green.
John Cartwright, who was an assistant coach to Green when the Cowboys won the 2015 tournament, said Green had given him a second chance at coaching.
“I was not in the best place myself at the time,” Cartwright told the ABC’s News Breakfast program.
“[I was] coming to the end of my coaching career at the Titans and was a little bit lost.
“and [I received] a call out of the blue — Greenie asked me to come up there and join the Cowboys.
“Initially I just sort of said, ‘Mate I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. I wouldn’t be able to give you any sort of help,’ and he said, ‘Look, have the off-season to think about it and I’ll give you a call in January,’ and he did.
“I’m so glad that I took the opportunity that he gave me to go up there and help out.”
A shocked Mat Rogers says his former rugby league teammate, Paul Green, will be remembered as an “incredible competitor” who never took a backward step.
Key points:
Mat Rogers spent time with Paul Green last weekend
The pair played together for Cronulla and Queensland
He described Green as a “really good block”
The rugby league world is in mourning following the sudden death of 49-year-old Green, who represented Queensland in State of Origin and was a premiership-winning coach.
Rogers spent the past weekend in Sydney with Green at a Cronulla players reunion, with the pair having been teammates at the Sharks for three seasons since 1995.
They were roommates in the Queensland Super League representative team in 1997, before spending two years together in the Maroons State of Origin side.
Paul Green represented Queensland in State of Origin.(Getty Images: Darren England)
Green later enjoyed a successful coaching career, guiding North Queensland to its first NRL premiership in 2015.
Rogers said he and Green played golf and then sat next to each other to watch the Sharks beat St George Illawarra on Saturday night.
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“It was great — we played golf on Friday together and spent time at the reunion together,” Rogers said.
“He was telling me about the new boat he’d just bought for the family and I was looking forward to going for a ride.
“I can’t believe he’s gone… it makes me appreciate that time I got to spend with him.”
Rogers said half-back Green — who stood at just 167 centimeters tall — played well above his diminutive size.
“We played together for years and he was just an incredible competitor,” Rogers said.
“There was nothing of him and he just never took a backward step.”
Rogers said Green had been a sounding board for him recently as he set up his new player management business, while the father-of-two was also an ear for others who needed advice.
“He’s just been helpful with a lot of our young players and, out of the football world, I know other guys have had their troubles and he’s been there for them,” Rogers said.
“He’s just a loved guy, a really good bloke.”
Rogers said Green harbored ambitions to return to coaching in the NRL, having been in charge of the Cowboys until midway through the 2020 season.
He was linked to an assistant position at NRL newcomers the Dolphins, as well as other head coaching roles.
“He had a lot of ambition to continue on, in the NRL path,” Rogers said.
“He’s proven to be a great coach and he still had plenty of years left in him at that level but, unfortunately, we’re never going to see it, which is really sad.”
Another former Sharks teammate, Martin Lang, paid tribute to Green on Twitter.
“This is so sad. Paul was a close mate. We moved to Sydney together in 1993 … the beginning of an outstanding NRL playing/coaching career,” Lang wrote.
“My sincere condolences to Paul’s wife, children and his dear mum and dad.
“Rest In Peace mate.”
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Green moved to the Sharks in 1994 after a stint with Easts Tigers (now Brisbane Tigers) in the then-Brisbane Rugby League.
He won the now-defunct Rothmans Medal — the NSWRL/ARL best and fairest award — in 1995 and, two years later, was a member of the Sharks’ side that reached the Super League grand final.
Green represented Australia during the only season of Super League in 1997.
After leaving the Sharks following the inaugural NRL season in 1998, Green played with North Queensland, the Sydney Roosters, Parramatta and Brisbane Broncos before retiring in 2004.
Green then went into coaching, winning back-to-back Queensland Cup titles with Wynnum Manly in 2011 and 2012.
He joined Trent Robinson’s coaching staff at the Roosters in their 2013 premiership season, before replacing Neil Henry as Cowboys head coach the following year.
Green coached Queensland in the 2021 State of Origin series, losing 2-1 to NSW.
When Keith Potger remembers Judith Durham, he thinks of her generosity and strength.
Potger, one of the founding members of The Seekers, spent much of the 60s making music and touring with Durham as the frontwoman of the band.
The musicians shared many surreal moments, like knocking the Beatles off the number one spot in the UK charts and performing to screaming crowds.
But reflecting on Durham’s life after her death aged 79, Potger most remembers her advocacy work.
Judith Durham, Athol Guy, Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger reunited in Melbourne in March, 2019. (Australian Story: Darren James Photography)
After Durham’s husband, Ron Edgeworth, died from motor neurone disease in 1994, sheworked tirelessly to raise money and awareness to fight the degenerative disease.
“It made quite a difference to the awareness of that issue, and to see her unfailingly help to raise funds… that was quite remarkable in her generosity of spirit,” Potger told ABC Radio Melbourne.
Durham is being remembered by people across the globe for her kindness, distinctive voice and contribution to music.
‘We did always share the music’
Durham was born Judith Mavis Cock in the Melbourne suburb of Essendon in 1943.
She changed her name to her mother’s maiden name at the age of 19.
Durham’s sister Beverley Sheehan said they grew up surrounded by music.
“We used to sing together in the morning and it used to wake up our parents,” she said.
“We did always share the music, but she was the one who always applied herself and didn’t have to be told to practise.”
Sheehan recalled that when Durham was about nine years old, she expressed the desire to be a world-famous musician.
“proved to be true.”
Beverley Sheehan says her little sister always loved music.(abcnews)
Durham’s tryout sent crowd ‘up three levels’
The Seekers was formed in 1962 and originally comprised four men, but one member left the group when he got married.
The remaining three members, Potger, Athol Guy and Bruce Woodley decided to find a female lead singer who suited the style of their music.
Athol Guy had met Ms Sheehan through the local music scene, who suggested Durham may be a good fit for the band.
Guy eventually met Durham on the first day of her new job at an advertising firm, J Walter Thompson.
“I’m sitting in the office one day… and this little head poked itself around the corner and said ‘hello… I’m Judy Durham, you were going to come and hear me sing,'” he said.
Athol Guy can vividly recall the first night Durham performed with The Seekers.(abcnews)
After Durham pointed out his unfulfilled promise, Guy invited her to perform with the band as a try-out that night, at a coffee lounge called The Treble Clef in South Yarra.
“After we’d hit the last note our little crew in the coffee lounge went up three levels. We went ‘that felt good’, and obviously it sounded good,” he said.
“From then on everything just went the way fate decreed that it should, and I’ve always said you could never manufacture anything that happened to the band.”
In a 2016 interview with One Plus One, Durham described that first performance as “the birth of The Seekers as we now know”.
Durham joined The Seekers in 1963 and the band moved to the UK a year later, where their first three releases topped the British charts.
The Seekers would go on to achieve worldwide recognition, selling more than 50 million records.
The Seekers in 1965: Athol Guy (left), Judith Durham, Bruce Woodley and Keith Potger.(Supplied: Bruce Woodley)
A familial bond between bandmates
Potger said he regarded the other members of The Seekers as being like his siblings.
“It was really quite extraordinary how that bond developed so quickly and strongly,” he said.
He said their strong connections helped them deal with the pressures of fame, as the band became increasingly successful throughout the 1960s.
“We felt that we were sharing the whole ride together,” he said.
During the four years they recorded, their songs often reached number one on the UK charts and they managed to crack the US market with Georgy Girl.
They had the highest-selling record of 1965, which achieved more sales than releases from The Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
LR: Athol Guy, Keith Potger, Judith Durham and Bruce Woodley never imagined they would enjoy fame with The Seekers.(www.theseekers.com.au)
But in 1968, Durham, who had always wanted to return to a solo jazz career, decided to leave the group.
“I found artistically that I wasn’t quite on the same page as the boys… I just really need to do my own thing’,” she told Australian Story in 2019.
Durham returned to Australia and forged a solo career as a jazz singer, though she would return to performing with The Seekers in years to come.
‘It’s really sad for the entertainment industry’
Many notable figures from the music industry have expressed sadness over Durham’s death and paid tribute to her achievements.
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Normie Rowe, another Australian musician who achieved international success in the 1960s, said that despite Durham’s long battle with ill-health, she managed to perform in recent years the same way she always had.
“The Seekers were the definitive professional entertainment unit, it was wonderful to see them. They dressed impeccably, they performed impeccably,” he said.
“There was no one else who could sing those songs the way that Judith sang them. It’s really sad for the entertainment industry, it’s really sad for the people of Australia.”
Normie Rowe has fond memories from his youth of spending time with Durham and the other members of The Seekers.(Supplied)
‘Magical’ performances live on in people’s memories
In 1967, The Seekers set an Australian record when a crowd of more than 200,000 watched their performance at Melbourne’s Sidney Myer Music Bowl.
RockWiz host Julia Zemiro said the crowd made up about one-tenth of the city’s population at the time.
Zemiro described a show at the Bowl in 2009 celebrating the iconic venue’s 50th anniversary and the artists who had performed on its stage.
“The dream was, could we get Judith Durham to sing there again?” she said.
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“At the end of the show… Judith just came out on her own… With that voice that just cut through, right up to the back of that space, people were so moved and in tears. It brought back memories people we were taken back by.
“She was kind of magical… we were so lucky to have that opportunity.”
The Seekers reunite decades later
The Seekers came together again in 1992 for a reunion tour, 25 years after they broke up.
Producer Michael Cristiano said no one expected Durham to rejoin the group.
“When they all broke up, there was a bit of a hiatus and everyone went their own ways… They just thought ‘that was it’, maybe,” he said.
Producer Michael Cristiano with the members of The Seekers after their reunion.(Supplied)
The group played sell-out tours across Australia and overseas, including shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Their final concert was in Melbourne for the band’s 50th anniversary, where Durham told Australian Story in 2019 she knew it was time to bid farewell to performing.
“You could just feel it. Everybody was happy. They had got what they wanted. They had seen us for the last time. And for me it felt like a rounding out of everything,” she said.
Durham will receive a state funeral
Durham’s family have accepted the offer of a state funeral in Victoria, to honor her life and contribution to music.
Durham died in palliative care at Melbourne’s Alfred Hospital due to complications from chronic lung disease.
Sheehan said Durham was able to say goodbye to all the members of The Seekers and her close family members.
Details of the funeral will be released in coming days.
Live and back on Larrakia Country, this year’s National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs) was a powerful celebration of First Nations talent past and present.
Playing out under the stars at Darwin Amphitheatre, Baker Boy was the biggest winner of the ceremony, walking up to the podium twice Saturday night.
The rapping-dancing Yolŋu sensation won Album of the Year for his inspiring debut album Gela and was named Artist Of The Year. It’s the third time the Fresh Prince of Arnhem Land has won in that latter category, bringing his total NIMAs tally to nine trophies since he first gracing the ceremony as an Unearthed competition winner back in 2017.
Fresh from the release of their self-titled debut album, King Stingray claimed the coveted Song Of The Year for scorching bush-disco belter ‘Milkumana’ (voted #56 in triple j’s Hottest 100 of 2021). The Yolŋu rock band also proved why they’re one of Australia’s deadliest live acts with an electrifying performance to close out the ceremony.
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Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung woman Jem Cassar-Daley, aka the indie pop offspring of country legend Troy Cassar-Daley, was named Best New Talent following the release of her 2021 debut EP I Don’t Know Who To Call.
‘King Brown’ by powerful Malyangapa and Barkindji rapper Barkaa was recognized as Film Clip Of The Year, while Indigenous Outreach Projects earned Community Clip of the Year for ‘Loud & Proud’.
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Dobby, the Murrawarri/Filipino multi-instrumentalist rapper and producer behind some of the best First Nations raps going ’round, took home the Archie Roach Foundation Award, recognizing his achievements and supporting his growth as an artist.
Moving tributes to Archie Roach and Gurrumul
Powerhouse vocalist Emma Donovan and Butchulla songman Fred Leone led an emotional homage to the late Archie Roach, pairing up for an emotional performance of the important and influential songwriter and storyteller’s ‘We Won’t Cry’.
Joined on stage by a chorus of First Nations talent, it was a teary celebration of the life of the important and influential Uncle Archie, just days after the Gunditjmara (Kirrae Whurrong/Djab Wurrung), Bundjalung Senior Elder died at age 66.
The ceremony also commemorated the musical legacy and life of Gurrumul, who was officially inducted into the NIMAs Hall Of Fame and honored with a performance by his brother and Saltwater Band co-founder Manuel Dhurrkay.
The acclaimed, otherworldly Yolŋu singer-songwriter died due to liver and kidney damage in 2017 but left behind a stunning catalog of solo records that won multiple ARIAs, NIMAs, APRA and AIR Awards, and was named Double J Australian Artist of the Year in 2018 .
He joins NIMAs Hall Of Fame inductees Warumpi Band, Archie Roach, Roger Knox, Kev Carmody and the band he started out in, Yothu Yindi.
The NIMAs also hosted a live line-up of performances from Thelma Plum, hip hop power couple Birdz and Fred Leone, the soulful Emma Donovan & The Putbacks, traditional dance from Red Flag Dancers, and the elegant pipes of Noongar woman and triple j Unearthed. winner Bumpy.
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The NIMAs have been Australia’s most important celebration of Indigenous music for 16 years but 2022 marked a glorious return to Larrakia Country in Darwin after a two-year hiatus. The ceremony was forced to innovate around the COVID pandemic, going virtual in 2020 and presented as a two-hour special on triple j’s Blak Out last year.
View the full list of winners below and tune into Blak Out this Sunday from 5pm for a highlights wrap of winners, performances, and backstage antics simulcast across triple j, Double J and triple j Unearthed.
National Indigenous Music Awards 2022 Winners
Artist of the Year baker boy
Album of the Year Bakerboy- Gela
New Talent of the Year Jem Cassar-Daley
Song of the Year King Stingray – ‘Milkumana’ (songwriters: Roy Kellaway / Gotjirringu Jerome Yunipingu)
Film Clip of the Year Barkaa – ‘King Brown’ (Directed & Produced by Sonder Films, Executive Producer: Vyva Entertainment)
Community Clip of the Year Numulwar, NT – Loud & Proud (Directors & Producers: Indigenous Outreach Projects/Matthew Mastratisi/Franceska Fusha/Lesley Phillips/Jordan O’Davis/Numbulwar Community & School)
