Gallen is not yet the retiring type
Paul Gallen will extend his career into a 19th season after making the decision to play on next year.
Gallen, who turned 37 on Tuesday, has been agonising over the right time to retire in recent months. The Sydney Morning Herald can reveal he has decided to continue his career next season and an official announcement is imminent.
The veteran Cronulla forward has shown he is still a huge contributor for his side, as evidenced by his statistics in recent weeks. He has made 73 tackles and run for 334 metres in his past two games, against Manly and Melbourne, in an indication he still has more to give at NRL level.
The premiership-winning forward recently notched 50,000 career running metres, believed to be the first player in the history of the game to do so. His contract extension could result in him setting a mark that may never be beaten.
Sharks coach Shane Flanagan and Gallen have been in regular dialogue about his future and the pair have decided he isn’t ready to retire just yet.
The decision will ensure the Cronulla engine room retains much-needed experience following the loss of Chris Heighington last year and the pending retirement of Luke Lewis.
The decision is likely to be met with approval from Cronulla players and fans. Speaking earlier this week, fellow forwards Andrew Fifita and Wade Graham welcomed the prospect of Gallen playing on.
‘‘He played well on the weekend, he’s playing good footy,’’ Graham said.
‘‘Everyone has been asking the question [about his future] for the past three years and he just keeps going. We’ll learn that in time.
‘‘If he’s playing good footy – he ran almost 200 metres on the weekend and topped our tackle count – he was one of the best middles out there.
‘‘The performance on the weekend, you don’t need to worry about. It’s whether he can go through another year, another pre-season, another marathon of an NRL season. Only ‘Galza’ can answer that question. Only time will tell.’’
Fifita said Gallen was defying Father Time.
‘‘He won’t tell us [his age] . . . 46? 45? He’s the same age as Flanno and still going strong,’’ Fifita quipped.
‘‘I’m happy for the big boy, he’s still around. For me, I wouldn’t mind to see him [go on], he’s still performing on the field. Age is just a number.’’
Storm skipper Cameron Smith holds the record for the most NRL games, with 378. Gallen, currently on 322 appearances, could leapfrog the second-placed Darren Lockyer (355) if he has an injury-free run that includes finals appearances this year and next.