The chances of Paul Gallen finishing his NRL career as a one-club man increased after his management and Cronulla officials held "positive" negotiations on Thursday.
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Rivals clubs have flagged interest in Gallen, who is off contract at the end of the season, after he expressed concerns about the time it was taking to determine his future. Gallen's agent David Riolo met with Sharks CEO Lyall Gorman to discuss the prospect of a one-year extension for the veteran forward.
"It was a positive meeting. Gal wants to be there and the club wants him to stay," Riolo said. "That's what we're working to do."
Riolo also represents Jack Bird and the club has expressed interest in extending the young Shark's stay beyond 2016. But the priority is Gallen, who is preparing to play what could be his final Test match on May 1 against New Zealand. But before he is officially cleared for selection, Gallen still needs to meet with the NRL as part of his penance for a drunken tweet, which threatened his representative career. The NSW captain has completed a series of leadership courses in order to be eligible.
"I've thought about that just recently … There's a fair chance this could be my last Test match and I want to make the most of it," Gallen said.
"Playing for Australia, going back to those years in 2008, '09, '10 when the Sharks weren't going so great, I had to play well to keep that jumper. I did that and had some of the best times of my life.
"Winning the Four Nations and the World Cup in 2013, it means a hell of a lot. [Missing] last year was a shame."
The 33-year-old said he would decide whether to retire from representative football at the end of the year.
"Defending the Origin series is the big one and I want to get my Test jersey back. That was taken away last year and that was pretty hard," Gallen said.
"That's big for me, that's the first step, to get the Test jumper back and then the Origin series, and there's nothing else at the end of the year. I guess I'll just assess where the contract stuff is at."
Gallen said it was difficult watching Australia lose the Four Nations after his ban prevented him from participating.
"It was hard," he said. "I thought Australia were going to win. I was thinking this is going to be me in a couple of years. I thought it was good that some of those young players got blooded because you could see some of them weren't quite there yet. Because they have had the taste you hope now in the next couple of years I am sure Australia is going to remain No.1. So I thought all in all it was good even though they didn't get the result."
