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‘It was not him, it was the brain disease’: The tragic details behind NRL great Paul Green’s suicide

Late NRL coach Paul Green had been living with a “severe” and undiagnosed case of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy prior to his death by suicide, says his widow Amanda.

North Queensland’s sole premiership-winning coach and a former Rothmans Medal-winning playmaker, Green took his life aged 49 on August 11.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Amanda Green opens up on the death of husband Paul.

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His passing was met with an outpouring of grief and shock from the rugby league community as family and friends admitted they had not realised the extent of his mental health struggles.

But speaking to The Australian newspaper, Amanda Green said post-mortem analysis of her late husband’s brain had revealed signs of CTE, a brain condition thought to be caused by repeated head trauma.

Professor Michael Buckland from the Australian Sports Brain Bank said Green had suffered one of the more “severe” cases of the condition he had seen, which may have affected his impulse control and decision-making prior to his death.

“It was not him, it was the brain disease,” Buckland…

Paul Green built the the 2015 premiership dream into a reality for North Queensland

After a team has won the premiership it's easy to say it was their destiny.

Once the dust has settled and the confetti has dropped and the beers have been cracked and the tears have been shed it's easy to look back at everything that happened in the lead up and feel like you always knew this team would win it all.

But that's not right. Destiny doesn't really exist in rugby league, because there is no fate but what we make for ourselves.

Great coaches understand this, and because of that they allow nothing to chance. They can't rely on luck, they can only rely on what they and their team can create with the strength of their backs and the sweat of their brow and whatever force of will they can muster.

The 2015 North Queensland Cowboys, coached by Paul Green who died on Thursday, was one of those teams that seemed to reek of destiny.

They were the masters of winning games that weren't just close, but lived on the edge of a knife. That season had so many late-game heroics from Johnathan Thurston it's hard to keep track of them all as the Cowboys rode…

Doctors reveal rugby league legend Paul Green had an advanced brain disease at the time of his tragic suicide - as family say the diagnosis has given 'some peace'

NRL legend Paul Green had an advanced brain disease at the time of his death, doctors have revealed, as his heartbroken family say the diagnosis has given them some 'peace'.

Green, who was found dead at his home in Brisbane on August 11 after taking his own life, had been suffering from an advanced form of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy).

CTE is a neurodegenerative disease that can affect athletes who endure repeated concussions and head knocks during their careers in contact sports such as rugby league, combat sports and American football.

The shocking diagnosis only came after his widow Amanda agreed to donate her 49-year-old husband's brain. 

She gave permission for Professor Michael Buckland from the Australian Sports Brain Bank to study Green's brain and last week received a call with the results, The Australian reports. 

Professor Buckland said he had discovered one of the most 'severe forms of pure CTE' he had seen in Green's brain - a condition that can only be confirmed post-mortem.

Experts believe…