Paul Gallen

2019 was also the year that Gallen took over from Scott Prince (166 Losses) as the player with the most losses in NRL history.

On August 21, 2019, Gallen was voted as one of the best players of the decade in the NRL team of the decade announcement which spanned from the 2010 to 2019 seasons. The panel who voted were made up of Premiership-winning coaches Phil Gould, Craig Bellamy, Trent Robinson and Ricky Stuart along with Hall of Famers Peter Sterling, Darren Lockyer, Danny Buderus and Laurie Daley.

Also in August 2019, it had been revealed that he had been offered to join the Newcastle Knights for twice as much as his current salary the previous year at $700'000. Gallen declined the contract offer, explaining that it would have a massive impact on him and his family and that he would want to stay loyal to Cronulla for the rest of his career.

In the middle of 2019, it was announced that Gallen would return to the ring again with the opponent this time being former Australian rules footballer Barry Hall. In the lead up to the fight, Hall said of Gallen “I know it’s been painted as a code war, but even the support I’ve been getting off rugby league people has been overwhelming, He’s not a very liked human being … so I’ve got a lot of support". Gallen and Hall went the full six rounds, ending in a 57-57 draw. After the bout was over, each fighter thought he would win the decision.

In 2018, Gallen became a panelist on Channel Nine's all new 100% Footy Monday night show. After round 3, Gallen became the first player in NRL History to achieve 50,000 running metres. His closest rival is Billy Slater with 39,439 running metres. Gallen made 21 appearances for Cronulla in 2018 as the club reached the preliminary final before losing to Melbourne 22-6. Gallen did not feature in the match as he suffered an injury the previous week in Cronulla's victory over Penrith. In October, Gallen signed a one year contract extension to stay at Cronulla for the 2019 season. The deal will make him the first man to play 19 consecutive seasons with an NRL club.

On 20 December 2018, Gallen agreed to return to the ring to fight former professional rugby league footballer John Hopoate with the match being scheduled for 9 February 2019. Hopoate was knocked out in the second round of the bout. He said afterwards “I got caught by a good punch and I can’t hide from that, I went to sleep and fell over".

In 2017, Gallen was named in The City side in the last ever City v Country representative match. On 10 September 2017 Cronulla played against North Queensland in the elimination finals game. Cronulla were expected to win comfortably against a depleted NQ side but found themselves in a tight match at 14-14. With under a minute left, Gallen got within inches of the line for the match winning try but lost the ball. In extra time, Michael Morgan kicked a field goal for North Queensland to make it 15-14 which remained the final score and Cronulla were eliminated from the finals.

He is a former captain and representative of the New South Wales State of Origin team. 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 has the Australian first grade record for most seasons played in the NRL with 19 (ahead of 18 season players such as Andrew Ettinghausen, Luke Lewis and Cameron Smith.

Gallen captained the Cronulla Sharks to the 2016 NRL Grand Final. After a closely contested game, the team went on to win the Premiership, defeating the Melbourne Storm 14-12, the Sharks' first premiership in their 49 year history, although marred in controversy because the team has since been accused of cheating the salary cap in the 2016 season. Gallen himself played a key role, setting up Ben Barba for the first try of the night to put his side ahead 8-0.

Gallen then went on to say "If we got it taken off us, I would throw my ring away and I would quit the club immediately. It wouldn't sit well with me, The fact is we were under the salary cap in 2016, even with the intended third-party payments. We were under the salary cap. I have no issue with it".

His next opponent was for the Footy Show Fight Night in January 2015 against Randall Rayment, a current mixed martial arts fighter. Gallen won with a unanimous four-round points win. His fourth fight was another points decision victory over fellow-rugby league forward Bodene Thompson in a charity event at SkyCity Auckland.

On 22 August 2014, Gallen was one of the Sharks players who pleaded guilty to having unknowingly used banned peptides, and in exchange was given a reduced, backdated ban from ASADA and Sports Minister Peter Dutton for his part in the 2011 supplements scandal. Gallen received nearly $80,000 from the NRL to cover legal fees, however, in late October, Gallen sent an offensive tweet aimed at the NRL, complaining of a lack of support to him regarding the issue. It was later deleted and replaced with a story which Gallen attempted to blame his father, which Gallen admitted lying about before taking responsibility.

On the even of The 2014 state of origin series, Gallen labelled Queensland fans as "Two Heads". Speaking at the 2014 team announcement, Gallen said "If you take it as it comes, and you enjoy the part of it and enjoy going up there and listening to what those two heads give you , we have got the job done on the field before and that is where it counts". Gallen captained the New South Wales team to victory over Queensland in the 2014 State of Origin series. The win marked the first time that New South Wales had won the series during the current decade and it put an end to Queensland's record of eight series wins in a row.

In 2014, Gallen turned professional after it was confirmed he would fight Australian-based Herman Ene-Purcell on the undercard of Daniel Geale versus Garth Wood. Gallen was awarded a technical knockout victory inside two rounds despite being dropped by a left hand in the first-round.

Gallen made his NRL debut for the Cronulla Sharks against the Parramatta Eels in round 15 at Toyota Park on 3 June. 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 won his first ever representative jersey when he was selected to play for City in the annual City vs Country match. In June, Sharks 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.

In the match against the Broncos in round 9, Gallen put in another impressive performance, setting up a try in the process. A week later in the match against Canterbury, Gallen sealed the 30–20 points victory with a try in the dying stages of the match. For his effort against the Bulldogs, Gallen was voted as the man of the match. The following week in round 11, Gallen again scored a try in a losing effort against the Roosters.

In round 14 against New Zealand, Gallen was again put on report by the referee after a head high tackle on Patrick Ah Van. The judiciary charged him with a grade one careless high tackle which in turn meant that he was suspended for the game against South Sydney in the following round. Cronulla had the bye in round 16 which meant that Gallen had not had the previous two weeks to prove himself for selection in the third game of the series in State of Origin. Despite this, Gallen was rewarded for his impressive season to date with a call-up to the New South Wales side for the third State of Origin match, although New South Wales were already 2–0 down in the three game series.

Before the third game of the Origin series, Gallen declared that he "can't wait to be running out and getting booed, I love that sort of stuff. It would mean everything going up there and beating them." After New South Wales had lost the first two games, there was talk that New South Wales lacked passion and Gallen stated that "everybody was sick of hearing it." Just over ten minutes into the match, Gallen put a high shot on Tonie Carroll. Gallen, who was also helped out by his teammates, then preceded to get in a fight with the opposition. Speaking of the incident after the match, Gallen stated that he and Greg Bird "came here saying that if anyone touches any of us, we're putting it on. I knew it would be a penalty but I knew it would also fire the boys up – it's good for the game."

Gallen was selected for Australia in the 2013 ANZAC Test and played at lock forward. In what was the first test match ever played in Canberra, New Zealand were defeated. Gallen was named captain of the New South Wales Blues for the 2013 State of Origin series. Gallen led his team to victory in game one at ANZ Stadium in Sydney, however the win was not without controversy, and Gallen lodged a guilty plea to a striking charge for the undefended punches he landed on the head of Maroons forward, Nate Myles. Gallen had not been sent off for the infringement and this led to the introduction of a rule that players would be sin-binned for any punch thrown in future Origin matches.

Gallen again captained New South Wales for the 2012 State of Origin series, which was again won by Queensland. At the 2012 Dally M Awards, Gallen was named the NRL's lock forward of the year.

Gallen began his amateur boxing career in 2012 in part of a rugby league versus rugby union charity event in Auckland, New Zealand. It was announced he would fight New Zealand international rugby union player Hikawera Elliot. Gallen received a three-round unanimous points victory over Elliot on debut. The following year Gallen prepared for his second amateur fight against another fellow New Zealand international player Liam Messam. He defeated Messam in a split decision over three two-minute rounds in Auckland.

2011 later emerged at the centre of Cronulla's drug cheating scandal.

Gallen was selected for all three games of the 2011 State of Origin series, as well as for Australia. He scored his first try of the season in round 3, against the Panthers. The Sharks won that game 44–12. In State of Origin II Gallen was controversially selected to play prop and became the first prop to play 80 minutes in an Origin match since Steve Price (rugby league) in 2007. His performance earned him man of the match. Subsequently, there were claims that his performance was fueled by performance-enhancing substances, with journalist Andrew Webster linking these in an article; "State of Origin 2016: The tough question NSW Blues captain Paul Gallen does not want to answer".

On 3 November 2011, the annual RLIF Awards dinner was held at the Tower of London and Gallen was named lock forward of the year.

For the 2010 ANZAC Test, Gallen was selected to play for Australia at lock forward in their victory against New Zealand. Gallen was left out of the first match of the State of Origin side but was selected for the two remaining matches. In the second game he was placed on report for a high shot on Nate Myles in the twenty-third minute. However, his performance was still impressive enough to lead Daily Telegraph Sports editor-at-large, New South Welshman Phil Rothfield, to postulate, that of all the NSW players, Gallen "possibly" would be the only one that Queensland would select if he was theoretically available for them (in place of Ashley Harrison). In the last match of the series, Gallen scored his side's first try just before half time and set up teammate Kurt Gidley for their second try just after the interval.

Although the Cronulla Sharks sat on the bottom of the 2009 NRL ladder after six rounds, Gallen was named in the preliminary 40-man squad for NSW for 2009's State of Origin series. He was selected for Australia in the one-off test match against New Zealand on 8 May 2009.

In May 2009, Gallen attracted public outrage for racially abusing Mickey Paea. The incident gained attention initially, due to the angry reaction of Paea, who is normally a quiet reserved player with strong religious beliefs. After the event, there were reports Gallen would be stripped of his captaincy. However, pre-empting this, on 1 June 2009, Gallen voluntarily stepped down from his Sharks captaincy.

In December 2009, Paul Gallen was issued with an infringement notice for urinating in public near the head of a drunken friend.

In 2008, Gallen represented Australia in the centennial test, scoring a try.

In August, Gallen was named in Australia's preliminary 46-man Kangaroos squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup, and in October 2008 he was selected in the final 24-man Australia squad.

Due to his claims at the end of the previous season that he wanted out of the club, there was much speculation about Gallen's future at the Cronulla Sharks before the season started as his contract was set to expire at the back end of the 2007 season. There were rumours that he would walk out on the club after his contract expired as well as other reports in the media that Manly would sign him as a long-term replacement for a recently retired player, Ben Kennedy. However, Gallen decided to stay at the club, putting to rest the rumours in the media, by signing a four-year deal with Cronulla, meaning that he would stay at the club until 2011. Gallen reportedly turned down a $1.4 million offer from Manly in favour of a $1.1 million deal. Manly confirmed that they were interested in signing him, however Manly denied that they ever made an actual offer for him. Gallen stated that he decided to stay at the Sharks because he was inspired by Nathan Hindmarsh, who had recently signed a contract with the Eels in the aim to be a one-club man. Gallen also cited the fact that he wanted to win a premiership with the club because "you'd be remembered for your whole life here in Cronulla if you were part of that first-ever premiership" as well as the fact that his "old man also wanted me to stay at the Sharks."

On 10 March Gallen rebuked Melbourne Player Cameron Smith and his calls for Melbourne's 2007 and 2009 premierships to be reinstated after Smith accused the NRL over double standards in relation to Cronulla's salary cap breaches. Smith was upset that Melbourne had been stripped of the 2007 and 2009 premierships yet Cronulla were allowed to keep their premiership.

In September 2006, just days after he was voted the Sharks supporters player of the year, Gallen announced that he was considering leaving the Sharks despite having a year left on his contract. Gallen stated that it wasn't the club or coaching staff that made him consider leaving the club but rather the fact that "I just want to play semi-final football". Gallen also stated that he was "looking for a fresh start and a fresh challenge".

In 2006, Gallen made 18 appearances in first-grade for the Cronulla Sharks, scoring seven tries for the club.

Gallen was presented the Cronulla 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 the Sharks 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.

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

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

Paul Gallen (born 14 August 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a lock, prop and second-row forward and captained the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL.

Gallen was impressive in just his second State of Origin match. In the 55 minutes of the match that he was involved in, he made a total of 127 metres gained as well as making 15 tackles. But even after Queensland lost their lock in the first minute, both their wingers during the middle of the game and numerous other injuries to players who could not come off due to no more replacements, NSW could not get more than a two-point lead until the 72nd minute where they scored two tries, Gallen setting up the final New South Wales try for Hazem El Masri, which in the process capped off an 18 points to 4 New South Wales victory.