Is the tide of public opinion turning Toby Greene’s way?

“They are just keyboard cowards but I think that sort of goes hand-in-hand with football. But no, I don’t like it. People say some awful things and I guess that’s more a reflection on what’s going on in their lives if that’s how they get their thrills.

“I think there’s definitely been a 360 on Toby. Some people in the media have always supported him and other have always not.

Toby Greene with his mum Kate and grandmother Jill.

“There’s definitely a shift where people have moved away from the personal, attacking comments to now perhaps getting to know a bit more about him. I think generally now people are pretty supportive of Toby.

“That seems to be my feel.”

A commerce student, Greene reads the Financial Review every day with a cup of tea.

“He rings and tells me I should be doing this and that and I think he forgets that I’m on a teacher’s wage,” his mother laughs.

Dermott Brereton worked with the Giants forwards “in an era where they were getting soundly beaten week in, week out and Greene was a teenager in the middle of the ground picking up 30 possessions”.

“I’ve spoken to people who love their footy and they say ‘Oh Greene, he’s a mongrel,’ ” he says.

“I tell them ‘yeah, but he looks after his mum’ and as soon as they hear that they go ‘Ohhh, I like that!’”

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There’s also Greene’s unlikely friendship with an AFL commissioner.

Gabrielle Trainor, a founding member of the Giants board, would have Greene and housemates Aidan Corr, Jeremy Cameron and Cameron’s dog Billy over for dinner in the early days.

She’s supported Greene, who’s the same age as her son, and called him out when he stuffed up.

“I’m not sure what it was that made Toby and I click but we did and we’ve remained close,″⁣ she says.

“It’s been remarkable to see not only how he’s become an extraordinary player but matured as a person and you get more joy out of that.

“Toby’s so understated and there’s no pretension about him at all, he’s the genuine article. He’s a kind and thoughtful person and I think that comes from his mum. He’s loyal, never says a bad word about anyone and wears his loyalty to the club on his sleeve.”

‘I’ve been in the captaincy position, I’m four years older, but I’m getting so much out of Toby and the way he goes about it.’

Cal Ward

Trainor and Green exchange game-day texts. He calls her Aunty.

“It’s that kind of relationship,″⁣ she explains.

“Nowadays, he’s taken much more to calling me and we’ll have a chat. It’s a lovely, really nice, easy friendship and we just get on pretty well.”

Cal Ward was Greene’s captain alongside Phil Davis from 2012 to 2019. Now Greene has stepped in as Ward’s captain.

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“I love Toby because what you see is what you get. He was a shy kid when I first met him but I knew he had loyalty written all over him – as a friend and teammate,” Ward says.

“I love playing with him, he’s probably my favourite teammate to play with.”

Greene doesn’t waste his words.

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“There’s no beating around the bush with what Tobes has to say but everything he says is so powerful,” Ward explains.

“He keeps things really simple. It’s not just ,‘C’mon boys, let’s have a good first five minutes’. He says it in a way where you really want to have a good first five minutes, it’s really motivating the way he says it.

“I’ve been in the captaincy position, I’m four years older but I’m getting so much out of Toby and the way he goes about it. I’m learning every day.”

Kate Greene says it’s a privilege to watch her boy captain his club.

“It’s been lovely. They mean a lot to him, they’ve supported him for the last 10 years and it’s lovely they had the belief in him.”

‘You have to earn Toby’s trust but once you do, he’s yours for life.’

Kate Greene

What about Toby is she most proud of?

“He’s become very neat, which gives me hope for his brothers,” she says with a laugh.

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“He’s grown into a young man who cares about other people and that’s a really important quality. He’s very loving, Toby, I think a lot of boys are towards their mum. He’s very protective of his family, not just me.

“And very loyal. He’s got a diverse group of friends, some of his best friends are his friends from kindergarten. I think you have to earn Toby’s trust but once you do, he’s yours for life.

“We all make mistakes and Toby has learned from his. He’s far from perfect, he’s got a great heart, he’s a really warm and sincere person and he’s on the right track.

“Life’s looking pretty good.”