Paul Gallen

Paul Gallen (born 14 August 1981) is an Australian retired professional boxer and former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and forward and captained the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL to their maiden NRL Premiership in 2016.

He is a former captain and representative of the New South Wales State of Origin team.

In June 2001, Gallen made his NRL debut for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks against the Parramatta Eels in round 15 at Toyota Park.

Cronulla lost the match 36 to 6.

He made one more appearance that season in the final round, where the Sharks were victorious over the Brisbane Broncos 24–16.

Gallen scored his first ever try at first-grade level during round 14 of the 2002 season - against the Canberra Raiders.

Gallen made 21 appearances in his second season at first-grade level for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, scoring one try during the season.

During the round 11 match (in 2003) against the Newcastle Knights, Gallen was sent off by referee Paul Simpkins after a high shot on Sean Rudder.

Gallen made a total of 17 first-grade appearances for the club in 2003, scoring five tries in the process.

In the opening round of the year, against the Wests Tigers, Gallen was involved in a fight which saw him suspended for two weeks after the NRL Judiciary found him guilty of a contrary conduct charge.

The judiciary decided that he had "instigated and tried to go on with a fight involving Wests Tigers prop John Skandalis".

He also sustained an elbow injury during the match which ruled him out until round six of the competition.

Gallen was the only player in round one to contest his charge.

In round 11 against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, Gallen scored an impressive two tries in his sides 30 points to 28 victory.

In June it was announced that Gallen had extended his contract for another three seasons.

In the 2004 season, Gallen made a total of 19 appearances for the club and scoring five tries.

In round 24, Cronulla-Sutherland scored their biggest ever victory, scoring a 68 points to 6 win over the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, with Gallen scoring a try.

Cronulla finished in seventh place and therefore qualified to be involved in the finals series.

They were drawn against the second placed side, which happened to be local rivals St. George-Illawarra.

In the match Gallen managed to score a try for Cronulla, however it wasn't enough to save the Sharks from losing the match 28 points to 22.

Gallen was presented the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks chairman's Award in 2005 by the club's President Barry Pierce after his impressive season where he led the NRL in both hit ups and off loads.

At the 2005 Dally M Awards, he was also nominated for the position of "Best Lock".

However, he lost out to Manly lock Ben Kennedy.

In the 2005 NRL season, Gallen played a total of 25 games in first-grade for Cronulla-Sutherland and in the process scored six tries.

Gallen ran 3,920 metres with the ball in 2005, more than any other player in the competition.

Before the season started it was discovered that Gallen was suffering from a bulging disc in his lower back.

After having surgery he wanted to return to action just a week after having the surgery done.

He ended up making his comeback within nine weeks which amazed Cronulla's medical staff as it was predicted it would take much longer than that.

Gallen won his first ever representative jersey when he was selected to play for City in the annual City vs Country match.

In June, Cronulla coach Stuart Raper pleaded with the New South Wales selectors to give Gallen an opportunity to prove his worth at State of Origin level.

Raper stated that "Gallen's been consistent for us over the past 18 months and if NSW hiccup on Wednesday night...he'll certainly be knocking on the door."

After missing out on selection in the first game, Gallen was again not selected for the second match.

However, after New South Wales was thrashed by Queensland, the NSW selectors made drastic changes to their team.

Gallen was selected to play in the third and last match, which was to be the State of Origin decider, where Queensland came from behind to win 16–14.

He has also been the vice captain of Australia and played his whole NRL career with the Sharks, with whom he won the 2016 NRL Premiership.

He was the NRL's oldest player playing in 2018.

He shares the Australian first grade record for most seasons played in the NRL with Cameron Smith at 19 seasons.

Paul Gallen played his junior rugby league for the Wentworthville Magpies and was in the Parramatta Eels junior system playing the S. G. Ball Cup before being overlooked by the Eels.

Gallen later signed with the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.

Speaking about being let go by Parramatta, Gallen said "I was never really given a go, I wasn't really getting a look-in there and decided to go elsewhere. I wanted to move away from the area and I knew one of the Cronulla trainers at the time, I played SG Ball for them, that's it. I'm from the district but I wouldn't call myself an ex-Parramatta player, that's for sure".