Having delivered the Blues the Origin shield and with the Wally Lewis Medal in his pocket, Paul Gallen is king of the rugby league world right now. But he has admitted there was a moment when he thought he should have been dropped from the Blues side during game one. In a series full of heroics - the feats of the Morris twins will be folklore, Jarryd Hayne climbing out of his sick bed to play to name just two - it was a moment that no one has noticed that Gallen says defined the Blues efforts - and, in his eyes, saved his place in the team. ''Queensland have a set play that they run loose to our line, it's called Elvis,'' Gallen said. ''We've seen it before and I was ready for it. Ben Te'o was coming at me and the way the play goes he would pass the ball … I was fully expecting that and was moving on to the attacker that I knew would get the ball. Instead, he didn't pass and ran straight past me. He was so close to me that he brushed my shoulder and I just let him go straight past me. As it happened, I was so cranky … I thought there and then 'I'm going to get dropped for that' … a split second later I thought it was Aaron Woods or someone came in and saved me. And saved the team. The next play, Brett Morris pulled off the tackle in the corner with his broken shoulder. The focus was all on that - but, for me, that was the moment of Origin.'' It was, in fact, James Tamou who saved the day for Gallen and team, even though the Brett Morris tackle and Josh Morris chasing down Greg Inglis after breaking free of the physio were more spectacular. It was fitting that Brett Morris was in the Blues' room after the game and that he spent the week with the team.
Bird plummets to Earth
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This is Greg Bird the morning after Origin. The Queenslanders accused him of taking a dive. His fiancee had to dress him and he was in pain hours after the Nate Myles elbow. ‘‘I’m not whingeing at all,’’ he said. ‘‘When you play rugby league, you expect a physical confrontation.’’
Not Fort Knox
Wayne Bennett is the greatest coach the game has seen and he is loved by the players around the game. But get this straight - he is driven by the dollar, because he has a family situation that demands it. So here is something he needs to be aware of - if he isn't already. If he wasn't happy with the financial mess at the Knights, he could be in for a rough ride at the Dragons. The Dragons are a long way from being Fort Knox - something he thought that Nathan Tinkler was when he rode into town. This column is aware that Peter Doust has had falling out with Bruce Gordon - the billionaire WIN TV owner. It happened in recent days. And here is the issue for the Dragons - he has loaned the club $6.5 million. Money that he wants back, perhaps sooner rather than later when it comes to the Dragons as a result of the disagreement. Does this sound familiar to Bennett? The Dragons have put in a handsome offer for the master coach but surely Bennett will want some kind of promise regarding the club's financial future. The NRL have already topped the Dragons up and there is concern that that they may reach the point and say enough is enough. So Bennett will need to look at that and wonder ''if Gordon calls on the loan to be repaid and the club can't do it, what happens next?'' There are other matters at hand as well - like the fact that the players are thriving under Paul McGregor - who is a very good coach in the making. On the day before Origin, McGregor sat down with Trent Merrin and Josh Dugan and just talked footy for the best part of an hour. Then there is the issue of the Broncos. A Bennett homecoming is the talk of the Brisbane media - they are predicting a bad month of football and pressure to mount on Anthony Griffin. Again, what they have not taken into account is that Bennett has been looked at by the Broncos as a coaching co-ordinator - not a head coach - to go over the top of Griffin. The issue is: does Bennett want to slip into that situation? Those who know Griffin's situation say that he is under no threat of going. ''I can't speak highly enough of him,'' said Ben Hunt, the in-form Broncos half. ''He has pushed me and pushed me to get the best out of me and I think he has … His faith and support has got me playing my best football and I have to thank him for having that faith.'' Doust knows what humble pie tastes like - Bennett wanted a longer-term deal at the Dragons than one that was delivered.
Parade blues
The NRL's decision makers say the reason they didn't publicise the Blues' homecoming parade was that it was being held in an area that couldn't accommodate many people. The result is it was poorly attended and, in the end, people were being ushered in to try and fill the space. If the space was too small to publicise, why not publicise it and hold it in an area that could do the job? The players were exhausted and had to put on suits and ties for what was essentially a photo op for the Premier.
Carney support
Todd Carney is eyeing opportunities to play overseas - and is considering taking police or legal action against those responsible for making the photo public. The piece I wrote last week brought on an incredible response from readers - there were the usual haters but, by and large, they were very supportive of Carney. Here are a few edited examples.
From Richard Black: ''The NRL has to be bigger than this and the Sharks need to be better - stand by Todd Carney, not cut him loose. The Sharks should point to their compassion and forgiveness and be proud: we have ASADA hanging over our heads like a Sword of Damocles and we have never won the premiership but adversity has not crushed our humanity - we do not abandon this troubled player in his time of need despite so many raised voices that would consign him to the scrap heap in the name of indignation.''
Others wanted their name kept out of the column: ''I am a 45-year-old Sharks fan and I am someone who has had problems with alcohol in the past. It wasn't until I was 37 that I finally realised I had a real problem with alcohol. At around midday on Wednesday I emailed both the Sharks club and the NRL to express my concern for Todd Carney, whom I don't know personally. Having read your article, I am now in two minds as to whether the club should have sacked Todd. But the trouble is, the club is compelled to set some standards. The issues of his behaviour squarely rests with alcohol … Todd needs to address this, rather than seeing himself as a victim of the club or the NRL. To me it is obvious that alcohol has led him to behave in a way that he would not do as a sober human being. As much as Todd may not want to realise this, his problems will only get worse if he does not seek help … He will need support from others, even perhaps from professionals outside of his own family and friends. If he is feeling mentally unwell, it would do him no harm to check himself in to a clinic for a spell. The other thing now is if Todd continues to drink in public, he may suffer harassment from people, which may cause him to get angry and lash out. The last thing he needs now is to get in trouble for assault or something. Please feel free to pass my contact details (and this letter, if you think that may be appropriate) to Todd. I'll be happy to help him in any way I can and want him to know that he has support.''
Garden for Geale
Daniel Geale has flown out for his world title fight at Madison Square Garden. Part of his two-week training camp includes meeting the New York Yankees and spending time with Tim Cahill.
Boyd on the run ... just a little bit
Darius Boyd is being hailed as an Origin great now that he has equalled Greg Inglis’ record of 15 tries. Here are the distances he has run for each of his tries. His individual runs for each try were: 22metres, 21m, 8m, 10m, 21m, 10m, 10m, 11m, 10m, 8m, 8m, 18m, 11m, 6m, 12m. That’s a total of 186m and an average of 12.4m — about the average distance he covers to avoid a media interview.
Stats courtesy of Sportsdata
