Cronulla Sharks legend Paul Gallen has revealed that the club knew as early as the off-season that they did not want John Morris as their head coach.

Speaking on Channel Nine’s 100% Footy, Gallen said the Sharks and Fitzgibbon’s manager had been in contact from ‘March or April’.

“At the start of the year, they decided as a board, from what I understand, that John Morris wasn’t going to be the person to take the club forward, that’s what they’ve told me,” the premiership-winning Cronulla skipper said.

“Maybe they should have done that. Maybe they should have told him at the start of the year, but they didn’t have other options to go with straight away. Then, they explored their other options, they asked [Craig] Fitzgibbon’s manager, he said maybe, then it all started in March or April and it all happened very quickly.”