Shortly after, Gallop attended a businessmen's lunch in Brisbane. He and the AFL's executive commissioner, Andrew Demetriou, were the principal speakers in what was, in effect, a debate over which code was supreme in Australia.
Demetriou chanted his favourite mantra, the number of children playing Auskick, the AFL's modified game, and the indigenous code's genuine boast - crowd figures in Melbourne. Gallop concentrated on national TV ratings, where rugby league is a clear winner, albeit thanks to State of Origin viewers.
Sitting in the audience, Grant was impressed with Gallop's clear points win over the boss of a code which had lured two stars of the Brisbane Broncos to defect for million-dollar contracts.
But Gallop, buoyed by his victory and forgetting he could no longer speak unilaterally on rugby league, made an error. He announced that a second Brisbane team was an inevitability.
There are sound reasons for this. TV wants it and will pay more for it. Queenslanders are the most parochial fans in the nation. They watch, in order, the Broncos, Cowboys, Titans and then the Storm, because the Melbourne club has three of the code's best players, all Queenslanders.
Channel Nine and Fox Sports have indicated they will pay more for broadcasting rights if there is a second Brisbane team, because it increases their programming and subscription opportunities. But Grant was dismayed, telling his fellow lunch guests Gallop was out of order.