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Paul Gallen realises the gig is up on his fitness bid. Source: Brett Costello / News Limited
IF any of my Blues players needed a reminder of just how big this game is on Wednesday night, they got it on Friday when I called the players together after training because Paul Gallen wanted to speak to them.
You could hear the emotion in our skipper's voice as Gal told them he wouldn't be leading them on to ANZ Stadium. Gal was devastated, and we were all shattered for him.
It's hard to describe what the feeling within the group was like at that moment.
Here is a bloke who has trained his entire life to get himself into this position, where he was the captain of NSW going into the biggest game in State of Origin history.
To have it taken away from him like this just doesn't seem fair on anyone.
When Gal called me yesterday morning at about 8am you could hear the concern in his voice even then.
We'd initially said Sunday was going to be D-Day for a final decision on his fitness but unfortunately the foot injury just wasn't improving at the rate we'd hoped.
I'll admit our doctor Nathan Gibbs was probably more worried than I was because I had this gut-feeling that Gal was going to be OK.
I don't know why, all week, I just thought he'd be right.
He just always seems to get himself on the field no matter what the injury or how much pain he is in.
But when we spoke about it on Friday morning, you could just tell deep down he knew that he was running out of time.
I told him not to stress at that point.
I said to him: 'Just wait and see how it pulls up after training and we'll go from there'.
When we went down to the oval Nathan put him through a series of drills where Gal had to test out his speed and how he handled changing direction and that sort of thing.
The decision made itself.
If he was even at 50 per cent he probably could have given it more time but that just wasn't the case.
After training Gal came over to us, the coaching and medical staff, and said it just wasn't right on the team to drag it out any longer.
He said that he didn't want to risk letting them down.
That's how he said it: 'I just don't want to stuff everything up for everyone else'.
I just felt so sorry for the bloke. I've been there myself before as a player. I remember going into a State of Origin once not feeling 100 per cent - and looking back years later, I know that I didn't do the team or myself justice by playing.
I know that is how Gal would have been feeling on Friday.
He may have been able to take the field next week and taken the chance. He might even be right next weekend to play for the Sharks.
But he just didn't want to run the risk of breaking down in the game and leaving his team short.
When we called the players over to break the news my heart was beating for him, it really was an awful feeling.
I know what this game means to these blokes.
They say every State of Origin is the most important ever but I really do believe this is the most important game NSW has ever played.
Which is why we now have to move on and win this game.
I don't know if we can use Gal as our motivation, I just know we are going to have to fight as hard as we have ever fought over the last eight years.
Gal is not only a wonderful player with an amazing work ethic, he is also a quality man and a tremendous leader.
It's everyone's job now to take up the slack.
Robbie Farah will take over as captain on the night and I know he will be an inspiration.
To be honest, when we were together as a team after training I didn't even mention to the players that Robbie was taking over. I guess everyone just knew that would be the case.
He's a leader at Wests Tigers and he is a bloke who puts his heart and soul into every game he plays.
Robbie Farah won't let anyone down.
Neither will Aaron Woods who comes into the front-row for the biggest game of his life.
I know Gal is going to be down for a few days but he knows he has to pick himself up because he still has an important role to play for his state.
Even though he won't be out on the field at ANZ Stadium he will be with them in spirit on Wednesday night.
This game means everything to us - and Gal means everything to this team.
That will never change.
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