GALLEN STEPS UP FOR PRIDE
Different journey, same destination for Queensland Cup rival players
BACK in 2013, Patrick Gallen and Julian Christian were selected alongside each other in the Northern Pride Academy’s under-15s squad.
On the weekend, the pair lined up on opposite sides of the field at Thursday Island’s Ken Brown Oval for the Queensland Rugby League’s Country Week fixture between the Northern Pride and Ipswich Jets.
While it was Christian’s 32nd Queensland Cup appearance with the Jets, it was Gallen’s first.
The 20-year-old hooker, who has been playing for Southern Suburbs in 2019, made his Queensland Cup debut off the bench in the ninth-versus-12th clash, which the Jets won 22-12.
Gallen joined the Pride’s Queensland Cup squad as a development player in the offseason, following a stellar 2018 with the Pride under-20s.
The Far North product, who played his junior football with Babinda Colts and Innisfail Cowboys before playing seniors with Innisfail Leprechauns, said his list of goals for the 2019 just got a little smaller.
“It was definitely a goal for me this year to get signed and also to play a game, so I’m feeling really good,” he said.
“I wasn’t really that nervous because I’ve been training with them all year.”
Gallen said he had learned a lot since becoming a member of the main squad in the preseason.
“It’s good to be training with a group of people that have the same intent and desire to play footy at a higher level,” he said.
Gallen said he also relished the added challenge of taking on one of the competition’s more unorthodox sides on the weekend.
“They (Ipswich) play a different brand of football to most, so it was a bit of a different game for me,” he said.
“It was a new experience, but I loved it.
“It’s just a higher level and more professional.
“Everyone knows their role, knows their job, and it sort of makes it an easier game of football to play, because everyone around you is really focused on what they need to be doing.”
Travelling to Thursday Island as part of Country Week, Gallen got to experience all aspects of being a Queensland Cup footballer.
“I was pretty fortunate to get picked for the week we were coming up here,” he said.
“It’s a beautiful place and I’ve never been before, so I got to experience the Torres Strait Island culture.
“We went to a fun run and supported the kids there, and then went down and watched the juniors play footy in the morning, all the kids from the outer islands and that. “It was great to be a part of.” While he continues to take strides in his semi-professional rugby league career, Gallen also studies sports and exercise science at James Cook University.
Gallen was not alone in making his debut on Saturday night, with under-20s gun Tom McGrath also playing his first Queensland Cup game.