Paul Gallen weighs in on Barry Hall's infamous king hit of Brent Staker

Paul Gallen has weighed in on fight opponent Barry Hall's most infamous moment: his 2008 king hit of AFL opponent Brent Staker.

While the NRL legend had a famous State of Origin stink with Nate Myles, Hall entered AFL infamy when he dropped an unawares Staker with a savage left hand while playing for the Sydney Swans.

Having also played the villain during his footy career, Gallen was measured in his criticism of Hall; who later admitted that his Staker KO was a "low act".

"It's not a good look for the sport," Gallen told Wide World of Sports when asked about the Staker punch.

"I'm not going to crucify Barry for it; it was a mistake and I think if you asked him, he'd say it was a mistake.

"I'm not going to try to bring things like that into the preparation for this fight. It wasn't a good look for sport in general and I don't think Barry would disagree."

Hall later admitted his king hit "could have killed" Staker, a West Coast Eagles defender. Yet at the time, 'Big Bad Bazza' was slow to learn his lesson.

Banned seven matches for hitting Staker, Hall copped a further one-match suspension for striking Collingwood's Shane Wakelin during his third game back in the AFL. He was stood down indefinitely by the Swans.

The following season, Hall struck Adelaide's Ben Rutten and copped a two-game ban. It was the final straw in his relationship with Sydney coach Paul Roos and Hall announced just a week later that he was leaving the club.

Hall played out his final two AFL seasons with the Western Bulldogs, without major incident, but in 2017 was again sanctioned for punching during the the QAFL grand final. The Staker king hit was a defining moment of his career, cementing his reputation as a volatile character who could explode if provoked - with shocking results.

Gallen was himself involved in some regrettable incidents early in his NRL career; notably, a 2008 match against the Titans in which he raked the facial stitches of Anthony Laffranchi and pulled the testicles of Josh Graham.

He took a hard look at himself and was far more disciplined later in his career, becoming Cronulla and NSW captain and a Test regular. He also became a polished boxer, boasting a 9-0 pro record (5 KOs) heading into the Hall fight.

Gallen said that if there were any brain snaps still lingering within Hall, the AFL hardman would pay for it in their 'Code War' bout.

"I had issues early in my career, as he did, and probably by the back end of our careers we both tamed it," Gallen said.

"Boxing, you've got to keep your head. If he hasn't been able to control his emotions by now, it's going to go even more to my advantage on the night (of the fight).

"But with the amount of training he's been doing ... and at the end of the day, he was an amateur champion. He knows how to fight, knows how to box, he knows what it's all about. He's been there before and he'll be well prepared."

Gallen and Hall will face off in the boxing ring on November 15 at Melbourne's Margaret Court Arena.

Hall was a Victorian state champion as a junior amateur boxer, before pursuing footy full-time. Gallen said that he was keen to smash the mythology about what a great fighter Hall, making his pro debut at 42, might have been.

"I'm prepared and I'm getting more confident by the day that when I get to the fight I'm going to be ready to go," said Gallen, 38.

"There's all these stories about Barry Hall, coulda, shoulda, woulda been Australia's best fighter, blah, blah, blah. He's going to have to be better than what they say to beat me."