 In week one of the finals the club lost to the Melbourne Storm 16-10 before defeating the Brisbane Broncos 26-20 in a 90-minute thriller in the Semi-Finals in a match rated the best of the season.Unfortunately Green and the Cowboys fell short in the preliminary finals losing to the Cronulla Sharks 32-20, falling just one game short of a second consecutive Grand Final.Green coached the Cowboys to their best ever defensive season in the NRL in 2016, conceding the fewest points in club history with just 355 in the regular season, an average of 14.79 points per game.