AFL superstar Toby Greene almost dies during off-season holiday in Bali

AFL superstar Toby Greene has shared details of his pre-season holiday that almost went gravely wrong.

Speaking on Triple M’s The Rush Hour, Greene has explained how he almost “perished” after making a near-fatal mistake while surfing in Bali.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Toby Greene opens up on near-death experience in Bali.

The GWS captain — who is an experienced surfer — explained that he decided to take on some 8-foot waves that left him stranded in the ocean and without a board.

“I was just arrogant,” Greene said.

“We were staying on this beach and I’d noticed there were these little rocks that you could walk across.

“I noticed all the gun surfers were out surfing on the other side of this point, and I thought, ‘I wonder why no one had paddled out from my side ... I’ll just do that because it’ll save me time’.

“So I paddled out, misread the break and how big (the waves) were.

“The reef was 30 centimetres deep, and had these eight-foot waves hitting me and blasted my board into the rocks, so that was gone, I couldn’t get it.”

A jet ski operator had observed what was happening and a dramatic rescue followed.

“The jet ski (driver) was yelling, ‘Swim sideways because I can’t get to (you)’. He was trying to save me,” Greene said.

“I got out, got under a few waves and told myself, ‘Don’t panic because you’ll die’.

“The jet ski (operator) came and picked me up, and he said, ‘Mate, that’s as close as I’ve seen someone to perishing here’.”

Greene said he was in massive surf and on a “really shallow reef”.

“It was just stupid what I did. It was day one, and I just got excited,” he said.

“I should have gone to the ... intermediate section to the right of the beach but I didn’t.”

He said he returned to the place he was staying and his girlfriend asked about his surfboard.

“I said, ‘It’s gone. In the rocks somewhere.’.

“(The guy on the jet ski) rescued a few that day but I was the closest (to dying), he said.”

Greene rebounded from that drama to romantically propose to his partner Georgia Stirton.

He laid out a path of flowers and led Stirton out to a patio overlooking the beach in a tropical location.

With a big heart of flowers on the ground and seven-month daughter Isla in his hands, Greene got down on one knee and popped the question while revealing a ring.

Stirton appeared completely shocked by the situation, but quickly said yes.

“Just be grateful there’s no audio because all I was saying was ‘what the f’ 20 times,” Stirton admitted at the time.