It seems you can have an opinion in rugby league - it just must be the ‘right’ one.

Cronulla captain Paul Gallen has been castigated by a large slab of the league community for daring to speak his mind on Val Holmes’ departure.

Apparently, Gal has no right to be disappointed with his team’s best player disappearing at the start of pre-season, confirmed by an emotionless text message.

THE CAPTAIN'S RIGHT: Shane Flanagan agrees with Paul Gallen

What the hell?

Every journo in town was after Gallen minutes after Holmes was released by the Sharks.

He was the natural go-to man.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, Gallen is on the books at Channel 9 and they grabbed him for an exclusive chat.

In that interview, Gallen did what he is paid to do - give an opinion.

He gave strong, powerful and very quotable responses to Danny Weidler’s questions and left no one in any doubt how he felt about the Holmes desertion.

He is filthy on a teammate walking out on his club four months before the new season, undoing months of planning and leaving the Sharks with a mini crisis.

He called on the NRL to ban players who break contracts to switch codes.

Harsh? Maybe.

But at least Gal didn’t sit on the fence like most modern-day sportsmen.

Ask yourself this: What other NRL player would hit a teammate - albeit now a former teammate - so directly between the eyes?

Not one.

Gallen never said Holmes shouldn’t chase his NFL dream, just that he should have delayed it for 12 months when he was off contract.

But instead of being applauded for his strong stance and the fact he actually had something to say, the queue to tear Gallen down stretched from Toongabbie to Townsville

A great majority of the Twitterati predictably leant on Gallen's peptide ban to somehow make a tenuous link between that controversy and Holmes' walk out.

The Sharks captain is the first to admit he has been no angel during his 18 seasons in the top grade - just take a look at his rap sheet.

But the peptide slur is wearing thin.

Seventeen players - past and present - were handed 'show cause' notices by ASADA in 2014 after it was found they had unknowingly used illegal substances under the club's medical supervision.

Gallen was one of nine who players who later accepted backdated bans and became the face of the saga, with his eight teammates virtually escaping stain free.

He's never complained publicly about carrying the can all these years, but you can understand if he was frustrated and angry about the peptides being brought into play every time he gives an opinion on a rugby league matter.

There also appears little love for Gallen among ex-players.

Former Queensland Origin players Chris Walker, Martin Lang, Adrian Vowles and Mat Rogers – surprise, surprise - led the charge, taking a baseball bat to Gal for daring to speak his mind.

They, and many others, seem to have no problem with blokes breaking contracts to take off without a thought for those left behind to sort out the mess.

What a world we now live in.