By Todd Balym
September 23rd 2008 @ 7:26am
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Gallen fears sleeping giants Inglis and Folau
Cronulla captain Paul Gallen fears the possible suspension of Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith will awaken the Storm’s sleeping giants Greg Inglis and Israel Folau.
The Storm’s premiership defence copped a double setback yesterday with Smith and fellow Test star Jeremy Smith charged for a grapple and chicken wing tackle that could rule them out of Friday’s preliminary final with the Sharks.
The likely loss of the Smiths and Test backrower Ryan Hoffman (ankle) to injury would be a bitter blow for Melbourne as they face a buoyant Sharks outfit.
Gallen said his side would be confident against Melbourne after beating them 17-16 earlier in the year but remain wary of the Storm simply because Test stars like Inglis and Folau had yet to fire in the finals.
“We know they can be beaten. We beat them in round two,” said Gallen.
“To be honest it probably makes me a bit more worried that they’re due to come out firing. Blokes like Inglis and Folau are due for a big game.
“The likes of Greg Inglis and Israel Folau, we probably haven’t seen their best this finals series now.
“If someone like (Cameron) Smith is out then someone like that is likely to step up which can be very dangerous considering how good they are.
“It probably worries me a bit more.
“They’ve got too many good players to be running on empty like people are saying.
“People talk about their injuries but blokes seem to keep playing and Dallas Johnson is playing on one leg and playing awesome.
“They’ve got too many good players to not be a threat.”
The Storm’s wrestling tactics have become a major talking point the past two weeks with both the Warriors and Brisbane complaining frequently to the referee about grappling.
Gallen won’t plan to whinge to the referee about the tactic but said he may approach the referee if his teammates make complaints.
“You can’t go out there worrying about it,” Gallen said of grapple tackles.
“I know there’s a big kerfuffle about it at the moment because everyone is talking about it but if go out there worrying about it and whinging to the ref then you’re not going to play your game.
“If something happens on the weekend and someone wants to complain to them then I will say something to the referee.
“I’m not going out there to whinge about Melbourne, I’m going out there to hopefully make a grand final.”
Sharks halfback Brett Kimmorley agreed that it was best not to whinge too excessively to the referee but urged fans to try and secure a few `home’ decisions for Cronulla.
“I don’t think the hands in the air last week helped Brisbane,” said Kimmorley.
“I don’t think if you jump up and down you’re going to get a penalty.
“We’d like to think some of our fans get on board and you can maybe get a penalty through crowd noise and things like that.”
Gallen, meanwhile, insisted he would play on Friday despite being limited to light running at training yesterday with a corked thigh.
The Test lock said the extra week off had helped several players overcome niggling injuries.
“It was a blessing in disguise. Certainly myself and Ben Pomeroy would not have been able to play on Friday and Isaac De Gois he was in bed until Thursday,” he said.
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