After training with the team at Southern Cross Group Stadium earlier this morning then travelling with the team to Melbourne, it has been decided that Sharks Captain Paul Gallen will miss his teams Preliminary Final against the Storm with a shoulder injury.
The Sharks intended to give Gallen almost up until game time tomorrow before making a decision as to his status, however after receiving treatment upon arrival in Melbourne and following further assessment by Club medical staff, the early call was made to rule him out of match.
Injured in the second half of the Sharks win over the Panthers last weekend, Gallen has been working around the clock with Club physio's in a bid take his place in the Cronulla side.
While the improvement in the condition of his shoulder had been considerable over the past few days, the Friday kickoff to the Prelim Final will come too soon for the Sharks skipper.
Should the Sharks beat the Storm and win their way through to the NRL Grand Final, medical staff are optimistic that Gallen would be cleared to play.
The Sharks will name a replacement when the squad lists are trimmed back from the 21 named on Tuesday, to 19 players.
The official 19-man team list will come out at 7.50pm tonight, 24-hours ahead of the kickoff to the game, with the 17 to play the Storm to be revealed one-hour before before the game on Friday.
Joseph Paulo, Ava Seumanufagai, Josh Dugan and Kyle Flanagan had been named earlier this week on an extended reserves bench, with interchange forwards Jayson Bukuya, Aaron Woods and Scott Sorensen amongst the players in line to fill Gallen's lock position.
Luke Lewis is expected to Captain the Sharks side in Gallen's absence.
