The game has gone soft: Gallen

Blues firebrand Paul Gallen believes the NRL has gone soft.<br><br>Blaming the ever-increasing speed of the game and the introduction of wrestling techniques, Gallen explained how the game has lost its physicality in recent years. <br><br>“A lot of the impact has gone in defence just because it is so fast… its relied on a lot of wrestling,” the Sharks lock admitted on BigPond Sports Weekend.<br><br>“You look at the big hits two or three years ago… it’s a lot of body contact, shoulders into the ribs, now we don’t do a lot of body contact training. <br><br>“We do a lot of stop the player, grab hold of his arms, stop him from offloading and get him on the ground.”<br><br>Asked if he thought the game had gone soft, Gallen responded; “Yeah, I think so.” <br><br>The tough-as-nails Kangaroo said over-officiating and newly introduced rules were doing no favours for players or fans.<br><br>“I think a lot of common sense has gone out of the game. <br><br>“They’ve tried to make it just too black and white.” <br><br>Speaking after the Broncos’ victory over an energetic Gold Coast outfit on Saturday night, Gallen highlighted a ‘soft’ penalty on playmaker Darren Lockyer to illustrate his point.<br><br>“That hit on [Darren] Lockyer last night, I don’t think there’s much in it. To pull it up in a semi-final and to give a penalty for it, probably late in the tackle count, I just think it’s too much.”<br><br><b><a href="http://bigpondvideo.com/Sports-Summer-Highlights/208417">CLICK HERE to view the entire BSW interview.</a></b>