Gallen: No bad blood between us
Cronulla Sharks captain plays down any feud with Storm skipper Smith and denies grand final is Origin IV
Paul Gallen claims there is no bad blood between him and long-time State of Origin foe Cameron Smith, as the interstate skippers face off again in the NRL grand final between Cronulla and Melbourne in Sydney.
As NSW and Queensland captains, Gallen and Smith have played against each other for the better part of a decade in the interstate arena.
The pair’s relationship appeared to hit a low in the aftermath of Queensland’s Origin series win this year when the Blues, led by Gallen, were accused of snubbing the Maroons’ victory ceremony after game three.
A war of words between the camps escalated in the days after NSW’s win in the final game that prevented a Queensland clean sweep.
But ahead of Sunday’s grand final between Gallen’s Sharks and Smith’s Melbourne, Gallen said there was no ill-feeling between the pair.
“I never had a beef with him,” Gallen said yesterday.
“My feelings never got hurt. I spoke to him on the phone and he didn’t seem to have too much of an issue with it.
“We spoke probably three or four days after Origin III and I have no issue with Cameron personally.”
Some are billing the grand final as State of Origin IV, but Gallen dismissed that. “This is not Origin,” he said. “It is club football, it is a grand final. That is all I am worried about.
“Cameron is a great player, but this has nothing to do with Origin.
“I know it has been built up like that but this is club footy, this is the Sharks and the Storm.”
Melbourne assistant coach Jason Ryles has stood up for Smith, who has been accused of dirty play during their NRL preliminary final win over Canberra.
Smith has come under fire for appearing to knee Raiders skipper Jason Croker’s injured leg and pushing him over following a Storm try late in in the first half.
The incident wasn’t deemed worthy of any action by the match review committee with Ryles saying that Melbourne were the team that others loved to hate, particularly during the NRL finals.
That has gone up a notch with the ANZ Stadium decider in Sydney being billed as a state against state showdown.
“You can make a lot out of a still shot,” Ryles said of a newspaper photograph of the collision.
“It’s the same thing, different year for the Storm.
“When I was playing the same
I never had a beef with him. My feelings never got hurt. I spoke to him on the phone and he didn’t seem to have too much of an issue with it. Paul Gallen on Cameron Smith
thing happened and now I’m coaching four or five years later it’s still happening so we certainly don’t read into it.”
The former Kangaroos prop, who played two years for Melbourne before his retirement, didn’t believe Smith was a protected species.
He said as the Australian captain Smith had earned the respect of referees.
“He’s obviously a quality player and he’s the test captain and the referees have a lot of respect for him and he has respect for the referees.
“If I was the referee and the test captain came up to me and spoke politely than I would speak to him and I think that’s basically all he does.”
Since Ryles took over as forwards coach this season the Storm have taken their game to a new level.
But he was quick to deflect his own efforts, making special mention of the improvement from lock Dale Finucane and prop Jordan McLean.
Ryles sat out Melbourne’s 2012 grand final triumph over the Bulldogs due to a hamstring injury.
He said being a part of this campaign was just as special.
“It still meant a lot in 2012 winning the grand final and this would as well,” he said.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into it during the season culminating in this weekend and it’s an honour and a privilege to be part of it.”