Queensland hates me but respects me: Gallen

Jack, Gould mentioned that a couple years ago and he was absolutely right.... during 2010-2011, Gallen was trying to do everything by himself for Cronulla. The problem was that he had too, the team was mediocre. Over the past two seasons, the Sharks now have a squad where he doesn't need to get involved as much as he was and can focus on doing what he does best and that is running at 110%, making metres, popping offloads and tackling his heart out. No doubt he is still an instrumental part of the Sharks and any team he plays for... there wasn't a better forward on the field for Australia during the big games at the World Cup.

Exactly EJ. It's easy to see how people would not like him, due to his previous actions. And the stats above prove my point... there seems to be a myth created by people who dislike him that the only reason he makes the most metres by a forward each year is because he hogs the ball and has the most runs. That couldn't be further than the truth.... he is one of the world's best forwards even if he happens to be a crap bloke (not saying he is or isn't).

I'll consider that to be the best retraction you're capable of, as a New South Welshman. & btw, by 'name calling mentality' I guess you are referring to my use of 'Eyeball' instead of 'TheEye'? No malice intended, more just some light-hearted poetic spin in the context of my cataract pun. It was meant to be kinda like a nickname... like 'Gentleman Justin Hodges'. Thought i had right of way given that you had already 'lowered yourself into this mentality'. ;) peace out.

I'm not going to sit and pick your argument apart,Graveyard..nor lower myself into a name calling mentality To be honest,I expect and desire RL at this level to be hard,fast and bordering on illegalities.I'm not whinging about it,the opposite in fact..both states do it equally,to me it's part of the modern game..it's the singling out of Gallen as the sole perpetrator that grinds,his players love playing with him,doubt that any coach in the NRL wouldn't walk over broken glass to have him in their squad,and that's the CV any player would love to have.

I'm not countenancing any of the acts you mention. All disgusting. But none of that makes Gallen's antics acceptable. The guy has been a thug on and off the field.

Hang on there Eyeball, you seem to have cataracts... Lets revisit that apparently 'cowardly' up & under you are using as part of your argument, without bias. The bomb you are referring to took place from a penalty for the manhandling of an unconscious & injured Steven Price - I believe Justin Poore was the main offender & Trent Waterhouse also had some part to play for blindsiding Price a split second after he was knocked out by Brett White in a 'Mano o Mano' fight as you put it. All in all, ugly stuff & not a good look for the game. Now lets take a closer look at the bomb. It's obvious intention was, with the short amount of time left in the game, to give the ball back to NSW so that they would have to face an intense response from QLD in defence. Nothing wrong with that, & depending on its execution is the only legal retaliation possible in response to the ugly thuggery that was demonstrated at the other end of the field. Basically - if a dirty player/team does something illegal to you (as in, not within the laws of the game), do not reply with a similarly dirty act - wait till they've next got the ball & barrel them with a hard, legitimate tackle. So far so good. Onto the claims of cowardice... that bomb had a hell of a lot of hang time - plenty of time for another NSW player to know what was coming & take the ball instead of Gidley - it's a very long bow to draw to suggest Gidley was specifically targeted by QLD - there could have been a number of players who could have taken it given that it was a kick from a penalty. Gidley chose to take it being the fullback that he is. Now. Lets watch the resulting tackle closely. It was an intense gang tackle. But was it illegal? Was there a head high? Was there a cheap shot to the head? Watch it closely. Was there anything above and beyond what we've seen before in many gang tackles in origin, in general play? Sure, it was an intentional play, there was a great deal of intensity to it, & the context was quite unique & emotional, but using it as a stand-out example of cowardice & grubby play in your argument reeks of bias. Seriously, if we lived in an alternative universe where everything blue was maroon & vice versa, this is one incident that, even with your blindness, you would see differently. The bomb itself was within the rules of the game & a fair response to the ugliness that had just transpired. The violent hand gestures of Justin Hodges however, were also ugly & not good for the game. But this still doesn't translate to the subsequent bomb & tackle being a 'dog act' as you put it.

Best you not go near what players get up to off the field..Myles,GI,Teo,JT,Sam T the coach,even the great Darren L.have all been attended to by the police over the last 5 years for various illegalities far worse than public urination...and that is the crux..it's all more than just a tad hypocritical...it's like one elephant calling another elephant 'big nose'. In the 'We hate Gallen'party pulling out a mans stitch is viewed as far worse than pulling off a mans head,Inglis on Dean Young..,weeing outside is worse than loosening your bowels in a hotel corridor,Mr Miles,and punching a perpetrator Mano e Mano is viewed in the working mans game of RL a far worse cowardly act than putting up a bomb to one man and have the entire team put a shot on him..Gentleman Justin Hodges urgings on one of the cleanest players in the game Kirt Gidley... All fond memories..all illustrations of dog acts,but hey,forget them,hang on to what you want to hang on to.

It takes a fair bit of skill and talent to dominate the middle 3rd of the field for the best part of 7 years.

Yeah, but who won the series? Clue. It wasn't Big Gal's fist. Seems that your favourite memory of Big Gal is him coward punching another player. Mine is when he gouged open that wound. Or maybe when he urinated near a man's head and got charged by the police for it. "Keeping the streets clean and safe", eh.

Ridiculous comparison.

Gallen is a grub and has been for a long time. I doubt if any Qlder would respect him and I doubt if a fair % of NSW would respect him. He is a good player but he is a grub and while he is a tough player I doubt that his type of play would command respect as he resorts to a fair bit of thuggery during the game to get his point across. He lacks actual talent but makes up for it with thuggery. I suppose he would appeal to a certain type of supporter (maybe some that should not frequent Kings Cross) but the ordinary supporter would prefer to watch a good hard game rather than watch Gallen using somewhat dubious methods to try and win a game. I have no doubt that he is one tough bloke but is that what playing league is about??? I thought playing a game is about skill and talent not belting someone or being a bully.

well said

When your "best" players main attribute is eating metres, making tackles that don't bruise opponents and firing up the opposition you have a problem. He will never skipper a NSW team to a series victory and ultimately that will be his legacy. That or the whole ASADA debacle.

It's no coincidence that Miles stopped leading with the head when Gal 'asked' him to stop,nor is it just by chance that Slater doesn't even think about using his 'attacking-defence' when Gals on patrol,Papali doesn't look sideways and Sam T. refrains from 3rd manning it..ever seen Cameron Smith try to chicken wing during a SOO or in any Shark game ?Thats what he's talking about..keeping the streets clean and safe..

Yeah I don't mind people disliking the guy based on character. But the fact is he is one of the games best forwards. And he has consistently been at the top since 2007. He does take plenty of hit-ups but backs it up with metres gained. 2013 stats for Average run metres (compared to guys who play similar roles): Gallen (9.01m) Fifita (8.34m) Parker (7.81m) Thaiday (7.68m) Watmough (8.24m) Myles (7.71m) Scott (8.84m) There is a reason he is one of the first picked for the Kangaroos

Mate I think he might be right. There was some stat quoted a while ago on the Footy Show or something - it was Gould of all people I think who said it - but Cronulla win about 30% of their games when Gallen plays...and about 50% of their games when he doesn't (!) Point was, the stat came from someone who didn't seem to have an axe to grind against Gallen, like Gould. He was talkign at great length about how the teams Gallen plays in tends to lose, and how much of this is either coincidence or the result of Gallen's influence on the game. I can't comment on the other bit above about his personal stats and so forth.

Stats don't win you games, When NSW start losing Gallen decides to take 2 hit ups a set to make his stats look good, Even Stevie Wonder can see that. Gallen taking Hit ups by himself in the opposition 20 metre line, not threatening the defence all for the sake of stats is hilarious when he does it for NSW, he's just keeping the ball out ofNSW best attackers hands. But his stats look good

Gallen's yet to play in a winning Origin series. He's Queensland's lucky charm. Queensland have sympathy for him, but not respect,

What a load of rubbish.... it would help if you actually checked the stats rather than flipping random numbers. In terms of average metres per run.... Paul Gallen has pretty much led the league for the past 5 seasons.

Not just north of the Tweed. I can't believe he's our captain. What a joke.