If anyone had of thought NSW and Sharks skipper Paul Gallen would be a little tense just 24 hours from Origin three his relaxed attitude and calm demeanor didn’t indicate it.
Gallen fronted the media at a Rise For Alex fundraising launch yesterday in Brisbane with a smile on his face as he looked forward to wrapping up the series and holding the trophy aloft at Suncorp later tonight.
But before talk turned to today’s big game Gallen was joined by Queensland captain Cameron Smith in speaking about Alex McKinnon and the Rise For Alex initiative.
“It was a tragic accident,” Gallen began. “But it’s good to see the rugby league community getting behind him.”
As for the opposing captains sharing the stage with the Origin battle approaching, Gallen explained it was easy to put any rivalries aside at an occasion such as this one.
“We know it’s Origin, but we’re happy to come together for a good cause,” he said.
After the Rise For Alex fundraising was discussed attention turned to the Origin game, with Gallen looking for NSW to complete the clean sweep and then keen to hold up the trophy in front of the pro-Queensland crowd.
“We’ve done what we wanted, we’ve won the series, but we want to win 3-0,” Gallen said.
State of Origin Game 3, featuring Gallen and his Sharks teammate Luke Lewis is scheduled to get underway just after 8.00pm tonight.
A full reply of Gallen’s press conference, courtesy of NRL.com, is now playing on Sharks TV.
