Paul Gallen savages 'horrible' NRL trial game quality ahead of 2024 season
The Sharks legend let rip at the NRL clubs after watching the pre-season challenge games.
NRL great Paul Gallen hasn't held back after calling out the 'terrible' standard on show from NRL teams during during the pre-season challenge. On the weekend, NRL teams were provided their first proper pre-season hit out with the All Stars clash and the Charity Shield between the Rabbitohs and Dragons taking centre stage.
Latrell Mitchell led the Indigenous All Stars to a 22-14 win over the Maori outfit, while the Rabbitohs ended up thrashing the Dragons when both teams made vast changes towards the second-half. Only reigning NRL champs the Panthers didn't compete in a trial game as they are set to face Wigan in the World Club Challenge this week.
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Many NRL teams also opted to rest players - while plenty of key figures were selected in the All Stars clash - during the trial round. This is obviously to avoid injuries only weeks out from the opening NRL round. Gallen watched footy's return on the weekend and claimed the All Stars clash holds huge significance for rugby league and its fans.
But the former Sharks forward hit out at the standard across the board having claimed the quality on display was 'terrible'. "No, it was horrible - another word for poo ... it was terrible," he said on the Wide World of Sports Radio.
"...The rest of the games I thought were ordinary. They had a number of players that you don't know their names and that's the reason why the quality of the games was really ordinary and I can't wait for the big guns to come back. I do question the depth of the competition and the gap between first grade and reserve grade. Quite frankly, none of those players on the weekend are up to it."
Many fans would disagree with Gallen's comments and look at the trial games as a great way to see the up and coming players for their club. But Gallen was blunt when questioned over whether trail games hold significance ahead of the NRL season.
"I think the days of trial games are over," Gallen said. The former Blues captain admitted coaches and players were so concerned over injuries that the games were losing significance when trying to find fitness and form ahead of the season.
Dom Young injured ahead of US round
An example of why players often skip the trials occurred during the Roosters and Manly pre-season challenge clash. The Roosters look set to be without star recruit Dom Young for their season opener in Las Vegas after a crusher tackle from Manly's Toff Sipley that saw him taken to hospital on Saturday.
Sipley has been hit with a three-game suspension and will also miss Manly's trip to the United States after being charged with a grade two crusher charge and accepting the early guilty plea.Young was in obvious discomfort after the crusher tackle, as the force of Sipley's body came down on the back of his beck but was able to walk from the field. Sipley has since apologised to Young after the horrible incident.
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