Gallen set for glory

Paul Gallen is looking forward to revelling in New South Wales‘ State of Origin series win this week.

The Blues go into this week’s dead rubber third match with a 2-0 lead over Queensland in the bag. This is the Blues’ first series win in nine years, and captain Gallen is looking forward to making it the state’s first clean sweep since 2000.

The Kangaroos star is relishing showing off the Origin trophy, at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, on Queensland home turf.

“I can’t wait to hold it up,” Gallen said.

“I couldn’t care less if there are 55,000 or five people here. It’s going to be a great moment not only for myself but for NSW.

“Not only for this team but for every player and coach that has been involved in the past eight years.

“We’ve played against this side who are blessed with so many great players. On top of that, they’ve been a great side. To finally beat them it’s a real great moment for us in history. To hold that trophy up it’ll be a great moment.”

As for motivation in what is essentially now a meaningless game, Gallen insists that he and his team-mates are there to respect the sanctity of the Blues jersey.

“We know how hard it is to get hold of these jumpers,” he said.

“When you’ve got hold of it you don’t want to let it go. If you don’t perform to a certain standard you may not be here again. That’s everyone’s motivation.

“It’s important for us to play well as a team. The Blues jumper deserves a great performance by every individual. If we do that, hopefully we can win.

“Our goal was to win the series. We’ve done that. Now everyone’s goal is to grow bigger. We want to win this series three-nil.

“It’s very important for us. We spoke about complacency at our first training session. We haven’t spoken about it since. We have no excuses going into the game.

“We are well prepared and we want to win.”