consistent for us over the past 18 months and if NSW hiccup on Wednesday night...he'll certainly be knocking on the door." After missing out on selection in the first game, Gallen was again not selected for the second match. However, after New South Wales was thrashed by Queensland, the NSW selectors made drastic changes to their team. Gallen was selected to play in the third and last match, which was to be the State of Origin decider, where Queensland came from behind to win 16–14. Gallen was selected to play in the annual Prime Minister's XIII squad to play Papua New Guinea at the end of September. The Prime Minister's XIII defeated Papua New Guinea 28 points to 8 at Port Moresby but Gallen failed to be selected for the Australian Tri Nations squad. At the end of the season, Paul Gallen won the Sharks' supporters player of the year award In September 2006, just days after he was voted Cronulla supporters player of the year, Gallen announced that he was considering leaving Cronulla despite having a year left on his contract. Gallen stated that it wasn't the club or coaching staff that made him consider leaving the club but rather the fact that "I just want to play semi-final football". Gallen also stated that he was "looking for a fresh start and a fresh challenge". In 2006, Gallen made 18 appearances in first-grade for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, scoring seven tries for the club. 2007 Due to his claims at the end of the previous season that he wanted out of the club, there was much speculation about Gallen's future at the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks before the season started as his contract was set to expire at the back end of the 2007 season. There were rumours that he would walk out on the club after his contract expired as well as other reports in the media that Manly would sign him as a long-term replacement for a recently retired player, Ben Kennedy. However, Gallen decided to stay at the club, putting to rest the rumours in the media, by signing a four-year deal with Cronulla, meaning that he would stay at the club until 2011. Gallen reportedly turned down a $1.4 million offer from Manly in favour of a $1.1 million deal. Manly confirmed that they were interested in signing him, however Manly denied that they ever made an actual