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Gallen well within his rights to speak his mind

23rd June, 2014
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Paul Gallen is going from strength to strength in the ring. (AAP Image/Paul Miller)
Expert
23rd June, 2014
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Paul Gallen must be commended for speaking his mind on a topic which only suspended Cronulla Sharks coach Shane Flanagan is better placed to speak on.

Normally, a player publicly questioning the work ethic of their first grade coach would have hell to pay. But this is no normal situation Gallen and his Sharks find themselves in.

No other captain in the history of our great game can say they have felt what Gallen is feeling this season.

Cronulla have been rocked by the ongoing ASADA investigations, lost their mentor in Flanagan, and been savaged by injury even before a ball was kicked in anger.

Social media lit up on Sunday after Gallen commented on the current situation at Cronulla as part of his role on Triple M radio.

“I don’t want to sit here and bag Sharpie [caretaker coach Peter Sharp], but Sharpie has just been thrown in the deep end. He came out day one and said he doesn’t want the job,” Gallen said.

“…To me players are like schoolkids. If you can get away with a little bit you’re going to. If you know your team can turn up Monday and your coach isn’t going to rouse on you for not having a good game, I don’t think you’re going to put 100 per cent in.

“And I think that’s been the problem throughout the whole year. I don’t think players have been putting 100 per cent in because they’re under the impression that Sharpie isn’t putting 100 per cent in.”

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Cronulla isn’t Sharp’s team and that’s exactly what Gallen was getting at, reiterating what Sharp had already said earlier in the season. He didn’t say Sharp wasn’t putting in 100 per cent, merely that the players were under that impression because of Sharp’s comments.

Nobody has a bad word to say about Sharp.

He’s a great survivor of the game, a good bloke and a fantastic assistant coach. But the Sharks made a serious error in judgment in throwing the keys to Sharp for twelve months. They should have offered the opportunity to a young coach and given them the chance to prove their credentials to other suitors.

Gallen’s comments about certain teammates, who weren’t mentioned by name, is a regular line from a captain in a struggling side. We hear it all the time from embattled leaders desperately trying to find a way to jolt their team into action.

Modern sport is littered with throwaway lines, clichés and repetitive nonsensical rubbish, yet we jump down the throat of a man who has done more for his struggling club in 14 frustrating seasons than anyone else combined at the Sharks, just because he says something insanely close to honest?

Gallen’s words were pure and there was certainly no attack on Sharp.

Yet certain parts of social media bagged the veteran warhorse, taking what he said out of context in a way only social media can.

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“Paul Gallen lacks class and intelligence” said @ChappellGrant.

“Seems to me Paul Gallen needs to pull his head out of his arse” from @jimkat2.

This pearl of wisdom came from someone called @TSkeers “Once again Gal has shown what a low piece of shit he is.”

Lovely stuff from people who have clearly heard the audio of Gallen on Triple M.

You can’t blame the punters, especially when reporters on top-ranking morning television shows report that Gallen wants a new coach immediately and others are calling it a ‘Shark Park stoush’.

It’s just a shame that we thirst for players willing to speak up and tell us what they’re really thinking, then burn them at the cross when they do.

If anyone is allowed to speak their mind, especially on the current state of affairs at Cronulla, it’s their battle-weary captain. If only Gallen actually said something remotely scandalous, then we really would have something to talk about.

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