"I probably would have done it to any other player" - Gallen

[Bman26]

Gallen out to make positive impact

By Todd Balym
April 23, 2008
CRONULLA captain Paul Gallen has vowed to clean up his game after fearing he'd lost his greatest honour in rugby league with his "grubby" attack on Anthony Laffranchi.
Gallen returns to face the Wests Tigers on Sunday after serving a three week suspension for deliberately raking at Laffranchi's head wound in the Sharks' loss to the Gold Coast.

His actions were caught on television and led to calls for Cronulla to strip the 26-year-old of the captaincy.

Gallen admitted he seriously feared the Sharks would remove his honour and approached the club powerbrokers to discuss the matter.

"I had a talk to the board and especially to Ricky and they expressed disappointment in me which is fair enough," he said.

"I did think that (would lose captaincy), especially after the game. The incident probably cost us the game and as a captain that's something you don't want to do and you should lead by example.

"When I was made captain it was probably the proudest moment of my career so far. I really want to keep it and do a good job for the team and club.

"If you have a bad day at the office you don't get sacked from your job.

"I'm happy to have the captaincy this year."

Gallen said while he has learnt his lesson from the incident, he won't be changing too much from his confrontational play.

"I'm just going to go out and do what I do. I got here in the position I am at the moment doing what I do so I can't be all bad," he said.

And he is adamant he has no personal vendetta with Laffranchi, knowing they are both genuine chances at playing for NSW in State of Origin this year.

"I know Laffranchi off the field and he is a top bloke and I definitely have nothing against him," said Gallen.

"The only thing I had against him that night was he was playing for the Titans.

"But you know, if someone else had a cut on their head I probably would have done it to any other player at the same time.

"He is a good bloke and I'm sure I will catch up with him again off the field."

AAP

http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0,8659,23586946-23214,00.html

What an idiot.

 

[DeeGan]

I for one wouldn't come down to hard on a first year captain - but ... FFS, someone get in his ear down Cronulla way! :lol: The incident was bad enough let alone the same player letting all and sundry now that he would have done it to any other player.

Appreciate the honesty, though perhaps some things are better left unsaid.

 

[MSKnight]

And he was smirking about it on TV.

Thug.

 

[NK Arsenal]

And that's why he's a f**kwit.

 

[mightypanther]

And that's why he's a f**kwit.

I'll second that..:lol:
.
.

 

[Special K]

outstanding player and person.

 

[azzah72]

... and future Australian captain.

 

[DeeGan]

... and future Australian captain.

It's would be more likely to see Cronulla winning the NRL Premiership in the next fifty years.

 

[Mr Saab]

outstanding player and person.

He is a f**king fraud...

 

[Bman26]

... and future Australian captain.

given he's 2 years older then cameron smith i highly doubt it....

 

[Special K]

He is a f**king fraud...

how is he a fraud?

 

[Mr Saab]

How? Acts like he is some tough hard footballer...yet will lie down like Jarryd "Mummys boy" Hayne at the slightest contact to the head.
No time for tossers like that.......and yes my club (Broncos) has one too....in Ennis and i have no time for that clown either (except he doesnt have a persona as being a hard man)

 

[BWNB]

Gal is a champ met him acouple of times at fusion.

 

[This Year?]

It just proves Gallen is a grub and always will be.

 

[Raider_69]

... and future Australian captain.

what ever you're on, half the dosage or double it because something's gone wrong
the blokes a complete and utter grub, a good player, not nearly as good as he is made out to be, but good. He'll never captain this country

 

[KniGhTs BaTTLeR]

Atleast someone is bringin back the biff. I dont mind seeing a bit of blood. yeh his a thug but so what, how boring would the game be without them?

 

[Ice777]

How? Acts like he is some tough hard footballer...yet will lie down like Jarryd "Mummys boy" Hayne at the slightest contact to the head.
No time for tossers like that.......and yes my club (Broncos) has one too....in Ennis and i have no time for that clown either (except he doesnt have a persona as being a hard man)

I'll give you that, at least you and most other Bronco's supporters can and do admit that you have a diver in your side. Something that Sharks and Parra supporters for the most part have a lot of trouble admitting.

 

[runatme]

Gallen=LEGEND

 

[Inferno]

He took a dive once.

At least it's not on a regular basis like Ennis, he's easily the worst at the game at it.

Great player, and he's looking to take out some pent up aggression on the Tigpies this week. Should be a cracker of a match.

 

[Special K]

How? Acts like he is some tough hard footballer...yet will lie down like Jarryd "Mummys boy" Hayne at the slightest contact to the head.
No time for tossers like that.......and yes my club (Broncos) has one too....in Ennis and i have no time for that clown either (except he doesnt have a persona as being a hard man)

I have never seen Gallen back down from anyone in 8 years of NRL. I have seen him do dog acts, I have seen him belt people, get his head punched in, throw punches with his broken arm, elbow people in the face and many other things. I have never seen him be scared or walk away from confrontation. He may do dog acts like laying down but he is as hard as they come. Not saying because he gets into fights or elbows people he is tough but I think he is tough because he admits does anything to win and challenges people to stop him. When he starts dogging confrontations then you can call him a fraud.