Gallen accused of racial slur
By David Riccio
May 23, 2009 12:00am
DRAGONS 26 SHARKS 4
CRONULLA captain Paul Gallen landed himself and his club in an ugly racism row last night after an altercation with St George Illawarra prop Mickey Paea.
An aggrieved Paea went after Gallen in the 73rd minute with stunning accusations picked up on the Fox Sports microphones
. Paea confronted Gallen after a tackle and was heard to say, "he called me a black ... he's a racist''.
And even when the two referees, Tony Des La Heras and Jason Robinson, tried to separate the players, Paea continued to rage at the Sharks captain. He added: "Don't ever say that again''.
Dragons skipper Ben Hornby and Paea approached the referees, with
Hornby clearly saying "he wants to make a complaint''. But when the whistle-blowers pressed the matter, Paea decided not to go on with it.
The NRL last night confirmed they had listened to audio of Paea's allegations, but are powerless unless an official complaint is made by St George Illawarra.
All parties tried to distance themselves from any talk of a racial slur after another heated local derby finished with the Sharks plummeting to a ninth straight loss.
"It was just a bit of push and scuffle, what was said out there stays on the field,'' Paea said. "That's all it was. It was a tough game and in the heat of the moment it was a bit of push and scuffle, there was nothing much more than that. I'm happy to leave it there.
"I've spoken to him and it's all right. I spoke to him on the field and shook hands ... there's nothing more than that.''
Gallen, who is set to be named in the NSW Origin team on Monday night, was unfazed and needed to be reminded of the incident by reporters after the match.
"He just stepped on my hand and I objected to it and it was a bit of push and shove ... that's just footy,'' the Sharks skipper said.
The match just added another sorry twist to a season from hell for the Sharks, who are anchored to the bottom of the table. They were committed in the first half but were blown off the park after the break.
The Dragons led 4-0 at halftime after winger Brett Morris continued his rich tryscoring form. He went on to post a hat-trick.
With pleas during the week for Cronulla fans to support their team, they attracted their biggest crowd of the season - 15,201. Ricky Stuart's men played with plenty of energy and spirit, but they again lacked execution at crucial stages of the match.
"I just feel so sorry for our supporters,'' Stuart said. "I thank them so much for turning out. Like this team, we just need to stick tight through this tough period.''
Five-eighth Jamie Soward was dynamic for the Dragons as he shut out the Sharks by sparking three second-half tries in the space of 10 minutes.
Dragons coach Wayne Bennett reserved praise for his players' resilience against an emotional and determined Cronulla outfit. "I was pleased with the second half,'' Bennett said.
"It was always going to be tough here tonight, particularly early. There's a fair bit of emotion around this club at the moment."
Bennett also praised the performance of Morris, who took his season tryscoring tally to 10. "We might have found Brett's best position and he is enjoying playing there. His consistency has gone along with the fact he knows he will be there every week,'' Bennett said.
"But he's is a wonderful talent that is for sure, he is a real throwback from the past. He is one of the few players who is a natural winger.''
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,25527929-5001021,00.html
