The whiff of redundancy was in the air at some NRL clubs.
One outlet was to come to England.
It was an option being considered by an out-of-favour scrumhalf at South Sydney called Andrew Dunemann.
In his case he got the call to the Shay only after New Zealander Gene Ngamu opted to go to Huddersfield instead of the Blue Sox after being offered more money from Ken Davy's coffers.
Halifax certainly needed a boost to the playing staff in mid July 1999.
The aftermath of the John Pendlebury/David Hobbs departures at the end of June had been closely followed by the exit of their close friend Kelvin Skerrett and Des Clark would soon be on his way as well.
In addition Chris Chester and Gavin Clinch had signed for Wigan for some much needed cash, Paul Rowley was injured and David Hodgson was deliberately not being selected by newly appointed coach Gary Mercer on a matter of principle after pledging himself to Wigan as well for 2000.
Mercer had plugged the gaps partially by signing Mick Shaw - the hooker made a try scoring debut in a home match against Bradford in which the game was delayed due to pressure of traffic at Stump Cross - and also bringing in former Greetland junior Lee Milner from Huddersfield.
He needed beef though and Gannon was deemed to be the answer.
He flew into Heathrow one Friday morning in July 1999 to be met by Mick Clinch, brother of Gavin, who was acting as Mercer's number two temporarily.
He had been a skills coach at Cronulla once upon a time and had arrived on extended holiday at Easter, earning the nickname "Mick Dundee" along the way.
But instead of driving North to Halifax they made the short trip to the Stoop where Fax were due to meet Harlequins that night.
Gannon may well well have wondered what he had let himself in for as his new team conceded nearly 50 points and board member Roger Harvey went round to try and placate angry visiting fans after the game.
As an aside, the best player on the field that night was the Broncos' Karle Hammond…
As the coach was loaded for the trip home it was remarked upon that Gannon was perhaps a direct replacement for Clark as he had brought his guitar with him!
As time went by the bloke settled in Elland, got married, took out UK Citizenship, subsequently went on to serve Huddersfield, Hull KR and now Widnes where he will be lying in wait on Sunday……