As became tradition last season, the Sharks and Cowboys will again play for the prestigious Paul Green Medal at PointsBet Stadium on Sunday in honouring a great of both clubs.
The man of the match, as chosen by the winning coach, will receive the special award in a post-game ceremony involving the late Green's family, including wife Amanda and children Emerson and Jed, one of whom will present the medal.
Green, who tragically passed away in 2022 aged 49, played 95 first-grade games for the Sharks, where he won the Rothmans Medal as the competition's best player in 1995 and helped guide the team to the 1997 Super League grand final.
He went on to coach the Cowboys to their maiden NRL premiership in 2015.
Cronulla halfback Nicho Hynes was the inaugural Paul Green Medal winner last year in Round 9 at PointsBet Stadium, with former Shark Connor Tracey then claiming the prize in the return match at Townsville in Round 25.
Green's immediate family will be the guests of honour at Cronulla's captain's run training session on Saturday. The Sharks will host a large group of Green's kin and friends at the game, with Jed and Emerson to lead the teams onto the field.
The occasion means a lot to the club. Cronulla head coach Craig Fitzgibbon played with Green and later coached alongside him at the Roosters, while assistant Josh Hannay was on Green's staff at North Queensland.
Sharks prop Braden Hamlin-Uele will fatefully mark his 100th NRL game against his former side, grateful to have been handed his first match by Green in 2017.
"Playing the 100th game against the team I debuted for and playing for a medal named after the coach that gave me my debut, Paul Green... what better story?" Hamlin-Uele said. "It's such a fantastic game to get my 100th game in."
Green will forever be Shark #290.
A skilful playmaker, he tallied 162 top-grade games across stints at the Sharks, Roosters, Cowboys, Eels and Broncos, also representing Queensland and Australia.
He achieved tremendous success as a coach, not only winning an NRL title and a World Club Challenge but leading his beloved Maroons in 2021.
