Cronulla captain Paul Gallen has been handed a $50,000 fine and provisional Kangaroos suspension for a foul-mouthed tirade he made against NRL officials on social media last week.

Gallen has seven days to respond to the breach notice and explain any mitigating factors that might have contributed to his twitter brain-snap while holidaying in Hawaii.

The NRL imposed the heaviest possible code of conduct fine on the Sharks and NSW captain and he will also be ineligible for Australian selection in 2015 unless he successfully completes a leadership course.

His eligibility would then be reviewed by an ARL commission panel.

NRL chief executive Dave Smith said the NRL would also query the NSW Rugby League on whether Gallen should be stripped of his Blues’ captaincy.

Gallen, who is currently serving a 12-week ASADA-imposed anti-doping suspension along with Sharks teammates from the 2011 season, is in hot water after deciding to take a shot at NRL officials for their handling of the 18-month saga.

In reaction to the sacking of Sharks’ chief executive Steve Noyce, Gallen posted on his twitter account: “Steve Noice (sic) actually cared about players from cronulla’s feelings,” Gallen tweeted. “Couldn’t say that about any other c– from Nrl.”

Smith said Gallen’s tweet was offensive and called into question his role in charge of NSW.

“Origin is one of our flagship properties and we do not want it to be undermined in any way,” Smith said.

Due to the important leadership positions he holds in the game, the NRL opted to hit Gallen with the maximum possible fine.

The penalty was determined with the support of Cronulla, Sharks chairman Damian Keogh expressing his disappointment in Gallen’s actions.

“The last two years have been a difficult period for the Sharks and our focus is on performing strongly on and off the field in 2015,” Keogh said.

“So it is disappointing to have the club involved in this sort of issue as we prepare for next season.”

Meanwhile, Gallen responded briefly to reports he is suffering from depression at a boxing promotion on Monday in Sydney.

Gallen said he supports people with depression and encourages them to talk about it, but doesn’t want to go public about his reported battle with that problem.

“It’s an issue that’s hard for me to talk about at the moment,” Gallen said.

“It’s something that I support, the people that come out and talk about it and encourage them to talk about it.”

Gallen said he had tried to ring Smith following his ill-advised tweet.

The Sharks captain evaded rugby league questions on Monday and preferred to focus on his second professional boxing bout against his former Sharks teammate Anthony Watts at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion on December 3.