PAUL Gallen comes across as this big, indestructible unit. He’s not. He’s actually suffering from depression.
The same as other high-profile NRL stars like Darius Boyd, Ben Barba, Reni Maitua and Jamal Idris. Yet different that he doesn’t want to talk about it.
It has been bottled up inside him for two long and painful years. Since being diagnosed he has had treatment and is on medication.
Mental health and the publicity that goes with it can be a touchy subject. Those who genuinely suffer from it are, rightly or wrongly, often accused of ‘‘playing the depression card”, as in using it as an excuse for poor behaviour.
Boyd trashed a hotel room, Barba was the subject of an NRL Integrity Unit probe over allegations of assault, Idris was stood down to seek help for personal issues - including alcohol abuse - after a four-day road trip to the Gold Coast, while Maitua has been poorly behaved for a decade.
All have been treated with more sympathy and more respect since their health problems became public. And rightly so because they need our support.
Gallen prefers to battle his issues in private. Not that it’s a sign of weakness. It’s just the way he is because he doesn’t want to be seen to be making excuses.
I know those who have spoken to him recently about the anxiety, the stress and the tension. They say you can tell it in every phone call, every conversation.
It’s easy for us to say pull your bloody head in. You’re 33, a father of two children, you’ve got a nice house and you get paid 500 grand a year.
Sometimes it doesn’t work like that.
The enforcer we see carving out 200m a week on top of his 40-odd tackles is actually human. A human, who sometimes acts ­before he thinks of the consequences.
Keyboards can be a dangerous thing on the drink, on holidays and overseas.
Like his tweet last week describing NRL officials as “c ...”.
It was deleted five minutes later, he apologised, but the damage had already been done.
It was irrational behaviour that is typical of a man struggling psychologically and emotionally in the aftermath of two incredibly tough seasons.
One minute he’s the hero who brought home the State of Origin trophy after eight years of Maroons dominance. The state of NSW falls in love with him.
The next he’s being kicked out of the game after admitting he took banned substances in the Sharks scandal of 2011 so he could get a heavily discounted penalty.
For days he couldn’t get out of bed or leave the house. Only recently has he travelled overseas and resumed socialising with his mates.
Now Dave Smith, John Grant and all the NRL heavyweights want to take away his Test jersey next year as punishment. They want the Cronulla board to fine him $50,000 for that one tweet.
If not, they will step in and do it ­themselves.
He was never accused of assault and didn’t smash a hotel room. He swore. Like we all do in the heat of the moment.
The only difference is Boyd, Barba, Idris and Maitua chose to go public while Gallen won’t.
Now he faces the media at a press conference to promote an upcoming fight once the ASADA suspension is over.
He will be questioned about the contents of this column. I hope he opens up about it because there is a lot he has been suffering in private.
Footnote: This column is not about damage control for Gallen’s current predicament. I have been as critical of him as anyone. I wrote in
The Sunday Telegraph that he should pull his head in over the Twitter tirade. I broke the story that Brad Fittler wanted the Blues captain banned from winning his medal. I did not become aware of his health issues until Sunday. Gallen declined to comment.
