Cronulla Sharks captain Paul Gallen to have surgery on injured elbow

CRONULLA skipper Paul Gallen will undergo surgery for a long-standing elbow complaint on Thursday.

Paul Gallen

CRONULLA skipper Paul Gallen will undergo surgery for a long-standing elbow complaint on Thursday.

Gallen first sustained the injury about a month before Saturday night's charity boxing bout against Hika Elliott and overcame the 115kg Kiwi without being able to straighten his arm properly.

Sharks doctors claim the 31-year-old requires only a clean-out and will not miss any pre-season training.

Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan has also excused Gallen from training this week - the last for all NRL teams before their Christmas break.

"He played with the elbow strapped towards the end of last season, and then aggravated it when he came back to footy training," Flanagan said. "We'd always planned to do the surgery on Thursday."

Gallen's already tough reputation boomed after his comprehensive points win over Elliott, who had been undefeated in 63 karate fights.

There's likely to be offers for him to fight Sonny Bill Williams, with the match-up a promoters dream.