NRL icon Paul Gallen a laughing stock after awkward blunder
Paul Gallen has come clean on an embarrassing detail of his Cronulla captaincy, leaving Andrew Johns and Cameron Smith in stitches.
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Cameron Smith and Andrew Johns have shared a good laugh at Paul Gallen’s expense after a bizarre moment during Newcastle’s Golden Point win over Manly on Thursday night.
In one of the craziest finishes of the 2025 season, the Knights went scoreless in the first half and then won the game 26-22, with a Kalyn Ponga try in the first half of Golden Point proving the difference.
With the scores locked at 22-22 after 80 minutes, Ponga and Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans faced off for the coin toss.
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The Queensland State of Origin skipper guessed correctly and chose to receive the kick-off.
It was a bit perplexing for Gallen to follow.
Speaking in commentary for Channel 9, the Cronulla legend got lost when trying to work out who was going to kick-off after the Sea Eagles veteran had won the toss and elected to run in the same direction of the field as they did in the second half.
Watch the awkward moment in the video player above
With Gallen unable to work out if Manly was receiving or not, the former NSW State of Origin captain was schooled by Smith.
“Daly has won the toss and they’ll run the same way they are running at the moment,” Gallen said on Channel 9.
“Teams will not change direction. Daly Cherry-Evans won the toss … Manly will receive, is that right? We don’t know who’s receiving. We know Manly won the toss, but we don’t know who’s receiving at the moment.”
Smith stepped in to help Gallen out.
“Good work Gal,” Smith said with a chuckle.
“Daly chose the direction he ran Gal, so the opposition kick-off.”
Johns could be heard laughing into his microphone.
A sheepish Gallen responded to his long-time State of Origin rival by saying: “OK. There you go.
“That’s why you’re the GOAT. That’s why you’re the GOAT.”
When it was pointed out to Gallen that he conducted several golden point coin tosses during his career as Sharks skipper, Gallen came clean saying former Cronulla trainer Mark Noakes used to handle such matters.
“I forget. That’s why I had Mark Noakes next to me,” Gallen said. “He did everything. I just called heads or tails. That was it.”
Nine commentator Mat Thompson also stuck the boot in.
“You were only captain of the Sharks for 10 years,” he said.
“You’ve taken too many head shots.”
Meanwhile, Knights coach Adam O’Brien has been involved in drama despite his team’s massive comeback win.
The Knights went scoreless in the opening half as they trailed Manly 16-0 at the break and walked off McDonald Jones Stadium to a chorus of boos.
O’Brien took a shot at the booing fans in his post match press conference, saying: “The people that booed don’t know anything about rugby league.”
Despite being one of the greatest and toughest players in the history of rugby league, you can add Gallen to that category.
Originally published as NRL icon Paul Gallen a laughing stock after awkward blunder
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