Gallen in wee bit of strife with law
CRONULLA international forward
Paul Gallen has allegedly brought the club into disrepute again after police caught him urinating near the head of a man in Sydney CBD on Friday night.
It is understood Gallen's alleged ''victim'' was a friend who was lying on the pavement in an intoxicated state after a night in town.
Sharks chairman Damian Irvine said he was ''filthy'' and ''gutted'' after learning that the off-field actions of a senior player who toured with the Kangaroos for the recent Four Nations tournament in England and France had again resulted in negative publicity.
''He'll be fronting us on Monday or Tuesday morning at the latest and we'll see what action we take on it,'' Irvine said last night.
''I'm filthy on it, I'm absolutely gutted. It's not a huge thing, it's a silly thing.
''We've got a lot of good momentum and anything like this that threatens the stability and positivity of the squad is just gutting. We don't need it and he should know better.
''We've got procedures in place to deal with this and the board will make the right call. The appropriate action will take place, without being melodramatic about it, and we'll go from there.''
According to a police statement: ''A 28-year-old man will be issued a criminal infringement notice (CIN) for offensive conduct after he allegedly urinated near the head of a man laying in a street in Sydney's CBD overnight. At about 3am today, police officers witnessed the alleged incident at the intersection Erskine and Sussex Streets in the city.
''Officers spoke to the man, who was advised he'd be issued with a CIN in the mail for offensive conduct.''
The latest incident is reminiscent of the act which ultimately led to the sacking of Todd Carney at the Raiders. Carney was subsequently deregistered from the NRL following claims he urinated on a pub patron during a night at the All Bar Nun bar in Canberra.
Gallen has a lengthy rap sheet but his indiscretions have been confined to the playing field. In 2008, the Kangaroos forward tried to rip open the stitching on a head wound of opposite Anthony Laffranchi. In the same year, he was accused of grabbing the testicles of Gold Coast centre Josh Graham and, in another game, slapped the head of Eels prop Josh Cordoba while he was lying unconscious on the ground.
Last season he was fined $10,000 and forced to apologise for racially abusing Dragons forward Mickey Paea.
''Paul, who is currently on holiday following the Kangaroo tour, had the courtesy to phone me to inform me there was a minor incident in town last night,'' Sharks CEO Richard Fisk said.
''We're gathering all the information and won't be making any other comment until we speak to Paul and investigate the matter.''
The Sharks have worked hard to overhaul their image in recent months after being plagued by a series of scandals last season.
The lowlights included the sacking of Reni Maitua for using performance-enhancing drugs, axing half Brett Seymour for repeated alcohol-fuelled indiscretions and chief executive Tony Zappia resigning after the infamous incident with employee Jenny Hall.
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