State of Origin 2016: Paul Gallen and Greg Bird to begin final Origin campaign together

PAUL Gallen and Greg Bird have been bashing Queenslanders for nearly a decade but their brutal Origin partnership is set to come to a close.

Paul Gallen and Greg Bird have been mates for years.

TWO months ago, just days prior to becoming a first-time father, Greg Bird and his old mate Paul Gallen were chatting on the phone.

“It wasn’t about footy,’’ Gallen told The Daily Telegraph.

“We spoke about being a dad, what it’s like, why in that moment, he’ll understand there’s nothing else like it.’’

To almost 80,000 passionate NSW supporters at ANZ Stadium, Bird and Gallen are the brothers in blue.

But to Bird and Gallen, they are brothers for life.

In their early 20s, the pair lived together in a small unit on the beaches of Cronulla.

Both wanting to cement first-grade careers at the Sharks, their careers were on a similar upward curve. So they relied on each other.

Just like the phone call two months ago.

Wanting to be professional, they swapped schooners at the pub for nights at home, allowing a game of rock, paper, scissors, to decide whose turn it was to cook dinner.

As competitive as two dogs, it would be almost midnight before a winner — and cook — was declared.

They have travelled the world together, holidaying in Cancun, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

“In Vegas, by the end of the cab ride to the airport, I was tired, emotional and needed to get to the ATM to pay the fare,’’ Gallen said.

Bird and Gallen pictured after Bird’s Origin debut in 2007.

“Instead of Birdy covering it for me until I had come back from the ATM — he made me pay.’’

As brothers do.

The Blues ‘Bruise Brothers’ arrived inside the Origin arena with a thud. The nickname born out of their fearless desire to inflict pain on the entire state of Queensland.

When Gallen made his NSW debut in 2006 and Bird, the following series in 2007, league immortal Bob Fulton quickly declared the pair as the future of NSW.

The future is now.

Gallen’s retirement from State of Origin at the end of this series means their days together in sky-blue are numbered.

“You have to treat every Origin like it’s your last game,’’ Gallen said yesterday.

“I know it’s a series but if things weren’t to go well (tonight) and we don’t play well, you never take your spot for granted.’’

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With his hip purple, an injured Gallen watched Origin I from the players dugout at ANZ Stadium last year.

Too emotional to accept coach Laurie Daley’s sideline invitation, a suspended Bird watched the Blues 11-10 loss to Queensland from his loungeroom on the Gold Coast.

“It was hard. I think back to what could have been from that night,’’ Gallen said.

“We had to win the series in the first two games, and to think myself, Birdy and at least one of the (Brett) Morris boys weren’t there — and the boys only went down by one point.’’

The Blues welcome back Gallen and Bird’s combined 36 games worth of Origin experience.

The last time they played together for NSW was in 2014 at ANZ Stadium. It was the night the Blues sealed the series 2-1, ending eight years of pain.

It was the night, Gallen and Bird stood holding the shield together, as brothers for life.