The sheer gall of Paul Gallen

DARE to criticise Paul Gallen and he does another interview in retaliation and bags the person who questions the Big Gal.

Paul Gallen during game 2 of the 2015 State of Origin series between New South Wales and Queensland at the MCG on Wednesday, June 17, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. Picture Gregg Porteous

WHEN season 2016 began there he was again, speculating about his future with Cronulla and how much longer he would play Origin football.

Then he suffered a knee injury, so we had to cop a week’s worth of tests, speculation and scans.

Was this the injury that would end his career? Better get six cameras to the X-ray centre and see what the outcome is. Will it mean two months or is he out of Origin?

Artwork: Scott “Boo” Bailey.

Not surprisingly, it turned out to be a relatively minor glitch, just a few weeks and he was back.

Dare to criticise Paul Gallen and he does another interview in retaliation or hops on his contracted radio station and bags the living daylights out of the person who questions the Big Gal.

It is his way or the highway and he has let the Sydney rugby league world know in no uncertain terms that he is the King, the Man, the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread.

For many of us, each season represents another tedious “journey” through the vagaries of Gallen’s career. While Queenslanders and a majority of New South Welshmen would prefer to talk to us about the emblem on the front of the jersey, Gallen points to the back where you can find his name and number.

Paul Gallen in action for the Sharks.

He has taken to arriving at club games under guard ever since a pesky bunch of kids dared to ask him for autographs last year and he hit the roof. He prefers to be the last man off the bus so we are all asking “Where’s Gal?”.

He goes into a deep trough of rage if you dare to remind him he is a supplements cheat.

That little asterisk next to his name will never leave him.

A minuscule suspension does not take away from the fact Gallen was found guilty of using performance enhancing peptides under the Stephen Dank regime.

Over an 11-week period in 2011 Gallen was named in each Sharks outfit that used the illicit peptides. Three of his teammates testified at a recent defamation trial (lost by Dank) that the substances were labelled for equine use only and caused severe bruising over their bodies.

The jury found Dank recklessly endangered the life of Jon Mannah, one of Gallen’s teammates, who was in remission from cancer but died some months after the needles. Gallen stood in the same dressing room as Mannah and watched as they were injected.

Gallen does not talk about these matters. He copped the measly suspension and has refused point blank, throughout all of those interviews about himself, to explain why Dank was allowed so much free reign in the Sharks dressing room.

Nobody ever, and I mean ever, queries how the peptides may have affected Gallen’s performance.

He might have been found guilty but he’s still Big Gal, tough as teak and now a big time media personality.

Gallen’s announcement this week he had decided this would be his last Origin series must have mystified the NSW Origin selectors. No team has been picked, Gallen has been carrying an injury and there are younger, stronger candidates who might get the nod. Still Gal decided he will be in the side and the three interstate matches will revolve around the Dame Nellie Melba goodbye.

Paul Gallen has announced this will be his last State of Origin series. Picture: Craig Greenhill

Hang on, there might have been another interview where he kept his options open for 2017. Better put that down as a discussion point.

Would this happen if Johnathan Thurston or Cameron Smith were bidding us farewell before a ball has been kicked? Does anyone in NSW remember the great Laurie Daley, Paul Harragon or Peter Sterling giving us five months notice of their Origin retirement, and then making it all about them?

Gallen has his fair share of fans but normal, everyday rugby league people, those who prefer that there is no “I” in team are at the end of their tether. The constant grabs for attention, the convoluted drama over every minor injury and the brazen nature with which he is building a media career reflect an ego that is bigger than breakfast. The supplements issue did not quieten him for a second.

This column will be followed by more petulance from Gallen. He told Triple M he doesn’t respect me, which I wear as a badge of honour.

Just once it would be nice to hear nothing from him but good grace and some good manners. One fears, however, Paul Gallen is not familiar with such things..

Originally published as The sheer gall of Paul Gallen