CRONULLA enforcer Paul Gallen has officially become the villain you love - shedding his "NRL Most Hated" tag in emphatic fashion.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal Gallen will today be thrust into the 2011 All Stars with, incredibly, more votes than any other player in the NRL.
The shock result, which comes only 12 months after he was stripped of the Sharks captaincy, gives the reformed bad boy the same status as NRL favourites such as Wests Tiger Benji Marshall and Brisbane legend Darren Lockyer.
In other surprising results:
* BOOM Raider Josh Dugan secured the No. 1 jersey ahead of Parramatta and NSW superstar Jarryd Hayne;
* ICONIC Eels back-rower Nathan Hindmarsh won a coveted spot in the forward pack;
* AND Queensland hooker Cameron Smith easily beat home his NSW rivals Robbie Farah and Mick Ennis.
The All Stars team will be named at NRL headquarters this morning - when coach Wayne Bennett will also name his two "smokey" additions.
While one player from every NRL team must be selected, it was thought Gallen could lose a chunk of votes to New Zealand counterpart Jeremy Smith, the tattooed Shire recruit who is fresh off a premiership win with St George Illawarra.
Instead, the Sharks hardman, who last night ran water for the NSW Legends at Parramatta Stadium, sat atop the list.
"Is that right, first picked? Outstanding," good mate and NSW legend Mark Geyer enthused. "I've known Gal for years and he really reminds me so much of Les Boyd.
"On the field he's incredibly aggressive - tough. One of those blokes you never want to play against. But off it he's such a softly spoken, quiet bloke. He has the same ability to switch off that guys like Les and Gorden Tallis had.
"Away from footy he's a real decent bloke, a family man, and his football really speaks for itself. They're talking about him as the new NSW captain and rightly so. I'd pick him."
The result caps off an incredible 18 months for Gallen, who was sacked as Sharks captain and replaced by Trent Barrett after the racial abuse drama with Dragons forward Mickey Paea. He was in the headlines again six months later when police caught him urinating in the street after a Christmas party.
Yet as part of his ongoing turnaround, he was recently awarded the Harry Sunderland Medal as Australian player of the year.
While Dugan's selection is also a surprise, an Eels insider last night said Hayne would have been an unlikely starter because he's still recovering from a hamstring injury.
