“I’m not the fighter I was three years ago, I know that, but I’ve still got enough to beat him and that’s all that matters.”

The last obstacle in making the fight happen was the length of rounds. Gallen wanted each to last three minutes, while Williams requested two. In the end, the former Cronulla and NSW captain relented.

“Nothing gives me confidence like the way I prepare,” Gallen said.

“This has been organised since December, we basically agreed. Then they came back and said they want two-minute rounds.

“I legitimately thought they were joking. They’re talking about Sonny Bill Williams, a professional athlete who considers himself a worldwide superstar, and he only wants two-minute rounds. That gave me a bit of confidence.

“Then I stopped to think about it and that’s a massive advantage to him, that’s enormous.

“But I’ve just got to have a crack and see what happens.”

The date and location for the fight haven’t been determined, but the event would be broadcast live on pay-per-view on Stan, part of Nine Entertainment Co, which is the owner of this masthead.

“There’s always been this talk about it and I’ve always said ‘Let’s go’,” Gallen said.

“There is the pub chat, it happens every week when I’m at the footy, ‘Sonny is gonna bash ya!’

“Will he? Now at least we will get to see. It’s never been this close.”

“There’s never been any false starts because he’s never wanted to do it, let’s be honest. I was asked about it once in June 2023, and admittedly, I had retired in November of 2022.

“I’m not the fighter I was three years ago, I know that, but I’ve still got enough to beat him and that’s all that matters.”

Paul Gallen

“At the time I was on my retirement party. I was out, I was probably having too good a time. There’s no way I could have been a professional [fighter] that year, I was too busy enjoying myself.

“The fact they came to me six or seven months after I retired, I was absolutely filthy. I called him every name under the sun, I was so angry.

“Now we are almost there, whatever happens, happens.”

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There is no love lost between the pair, who have sparred verbally over the years about a prospective showdown. Asked if there was hatred between them, Gallen said: “Hate would be too big a word. I couldn’t care less about Sonny Bill.

“Again, fighting him is a means to an end, he’s giving me what I want. I’ve said from day one it’s about fighting for my family, putting them first, putting the people behind me first …

“I’m not going to become mates with him. I might respect him after it.

“That’s one area where he’s let himself down; we could have got into the ring and punched on two or three times and made a ton of money and had an enormous amount of respect for each other for having a crack.

“The way he’s done it, it’s just lame on his behalf.

“I’m sure afterwards we’ll respect each other, but I don’t care who the person in front of me is. I’ve got to do a job and get paid. That’s what it is about for me.“

Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.