Gallen to play in NRL next season

SYDNEY: Cronulla skipper

Paul Gallen is set to play on in 2019, taking his NRL career into a record 19th season.

Just two days after turning 37, Gallen has decided against retiring.

Sharks coach Shane Flanagan has consistently said he would welcome Gallen’s decision to go around again given his form over the first 22 rounds.

While the Sharks ironman’s minutes have dropped this year, the former New South Wales captain has still averaged 133m per game, the seventhmost of any forward in the league, according to Fox Sports Stats.

Gallen is the coholder, along with fellow Sharks great Andrew Ettingshausen and teammate Luke Lewis, for most seasons in the NRL with 18. However, he will move past both of them should he step on to a field in 2019.

Gallen has played 321 games for Cronulla since debuting in 2001 and captained the side to its first premiership in 2016.

With three games and a finals series to go this year, another season will give Gallen a chance at break through the 350game barrier.

Cameron Smith (379), Darren Lockyer (355) and Terry Lamb (350) are the only three players to achieve the milestone.

The Sharks are well entrenched in the race for a second premiership in three years in sixth spot. — AAP