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Gallen takes massive crack at Cleary over diving furore

Cronulla captain Paul Gallen has fired back at Ivan Cleary after the Wests Tigers coach accused him of taking a dive on Saturday.

The Tigers were brave in defeat against the Sharks, with a disallowed try to James Tedesco in the first half proving telling.

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Tedesco was denied a four-pointer by the bunker in the 23rd minute after Wests Tigers captain Aaron Woods was ruled to have pulled on Gallen's jumper and taken out the Sharks veteran.

It was ruled that the hole which Tedesco fired through next to the ruck was created when Gallen fell to the ground as a result of Woods' tug on his jersey.

While there is no doubt the space for Tedesco to cross was created when Gallen was pulled down, Cleary said the former NSW skipper was guilty of theatrics and playing for a penalty.

"Our game is different to other football codes, one in particular, we don't condone diving," Cleary said.

"But we did tonight. I'll leave it at that."

Gallen and Cleary. Image: Getty
Gallen and Cleary. Image: Getty

Cleary's comments haven't gone down well, with Gallen hitting back in a big way on Monday.

"Ivan's got a fair bit to worry about — his team had more than 50 per cent possession, won a 7-2 penalty count, playing against a side that had 60 per cent completion rate and still didn’t get a win," Gallen said.

"He should probably worry about his own backyard before he worries about me."

Gallen strongly denied the claims he had milked the penalty.

"Unfortunately people who want to say that obviously don't know the game," he said.

"I'll say it's acting, I'll say it's a dive, when someone shows me evidence I'm not being grabbed by Aaron Woods. It's a simple game, you can't interfere with a defending player.

Gallen was also forced to defend himself from Bryan Fletcher, after the retired forward labelled him as 'selfish' for playing City-Country this weekend.

"That's particularly disappointing," Gallen replied. "He's got a big platform now he's on TV most nights, but being a former player, you know he should know how hard the game is and probably not pass judgment so critical like that.

"Especially something so personal. I mean he can judge me on the field, judge me by performances, that’s fine. But calling me selfish is having a crack at me personally."

with AAP