Tough words: Phil Gould told Peter Wallace to retire two years ago, yet he'll captain his side heading into the finals. Credit:Paul Miller But not for Wallace. "I wasn't close to doing it at all," Wallace said. "I had a pretty rough year that year [2015]. I was pretty keen to come back. Any player who has gone through what I had gone through has probably come across that conversation at some point. It's up to you and whether you have the desire and resilience to keep going." Wallace, who has regained the captaincy in the absence of Matt Moylan, chooses not to delve into that conversation with Gould. "Of course I remember it," he says with a wry smile. "I just don't want to get into it." But the 31-year-old, who only missed out on a State of Origin recall this year through injury, never held a grudge or any resentment towards Gould and the club for wanting to usher him out the door with 18 months to run on his contract at the time.

"It wasn't hard to take because I could see it from the club's point of view as well," Wallace said. "Unfortunately I had some injuries the first couple of years when I came back. I knew they were trying to move forward too. "He just had to make sure I was in the right head space and had the desire to come back. As it turned out, everything is all right now. Gus didn't know if I had the desire to come back from my second knee reconstruction in two years. He just wanted to know if I had the desire to get back through the rehab again and try and get back. "It was probably a conversation that had to be had. If I had turned around and said I was done, that would have been it. But I was determined to get back and felt like I still had plenty of footy in me. The way it has turned out, I'm glad I did. Footy is a business. He was just looking after the club to make sure it was in a good shape. "That's footy. It's been a good turnaround. If I didn't go to hooker and do all right, it probably would be a different story. As it turned out, Hook gave me an opportunity at hooker. It's funny how life works and how footy works. Sometimes you just have to take an opportunity for it to work out." The mail on Moylan

You can't always believe what people tell you, especially when you don't know them, but those claiming Penrith's decision to grant Matt Moylan leave to deal with personal issues is a smokescreen will be interested to read an email we received last Friday. After Fairfax Media broke the news on Friday that Moylan was disgruntled at the Panthers, we received an email from someone claiming to have been at Caringbah Post Office while Phil Gould was in. "That distinctive, battle-worn but rubbery face is unmistakeable," the email said, (sorry, Gus). Our man at the post office claims to have overheard Gould on the phone talking about Moylan and the situation at the club. "He was talking very openly and quite loudly on his phone, almost as if he thought he was the only person in the room," the email said. 'Personal issues': Matt Moylan will be taking an indefinite break from football. Credit:AAP

Out of respect for the privacy of Moylan and Gould, we won't print the finer details of that conversation. However, Gould was discussing doctors' recommendations that weren't just concocted on Monday to silence the story. This doesn't mean Moylan doesn't have any football-related problems with the club, but it sounds like those football problems have impacted on the wellbeing of one of the sport's most likeable characters. It's understood the Panthers medical staff recommended Moylan seek counselling a few weeks ago, but the reports last week brought it all to a head on Monday. Dog days ahead There were a few keen observers that noticed and heard Aaron Woods and Kieran Foran deep in conversation out the back of the Leichhardt Oval grandstand after last Sunday night's Tigers-Warriors game.

The high-profile Canterbury recruits, who are still waiting on the NRL to officially register their contracts, were heard discussing their excitement about next season and joining the Dogs. They'll find out in the coming weeks whether Des Hasler will be there on the first day of pre-season. Gal doesn't miss Origin Paul Gallen has spoken of his relief at stepping down from the Origin arena, admitting he would have been "hung, drawn and quartered" had he been part of another NSW series defeat. Ahead of Sunday's sudden death clash with the Cowboys, Gallen admitted his body had benefited from missing the Origin series. "Without a doubt," he said. "I wouldn't change anything. I wouldn't change the Origin games or the Test games I've played but it's been an eye opener this year how much of a burden it is.

"Had I played in this year's Origin series I would have been hung, drawn and quartered by the media and certain other people. It's sort of a blessing I wasn't there." Unfiltered: Blues captain Paul Gallen has always spoken his mind. Credit:Wolter Peeters The Sharks had been trying for several years to get Gallen to pull the pin on his representative career, with the Sharks captain admitting it went back as far as six years ago. "Flanno had a laugh with me the other day because I had a clause in my contract in 2011 that I would give up Origin in 2012 or that I'd look at giving it up," Gallen said. "It's been spoken about for years, but when you're a player you have to make yourself available for those games until you want to retire and I'd had enough [last year]." Braced for anything