Lachlan Galvin has tried to explain his shock decision to leave the Tigers after he was dropped to NSW Cup for turning his back on a multi-million contract and choosing to leave the club after next season.
A lack of faith in Marshall’s coaching is reportedly behind Galvin’s shock decision to leave TigerTown.
“I totally understand my decision will frustrate many Wests Tigers fans, but please know that it wasn’t an easy call to make,” said Galvin, replaced by Adam Doueihi at five-eighth for Monday’s clash with Parramatta.
“The biggest reason why I made this call now is so that the Wests Tigers have enough time to plan their roster without me in the future. That’s the absolute truth of it.
“I could’ve mulled over this decision all season, but I didn’t think that was the right thing to do.I thought it would be best for everyone to make the call now rather than drag it out.”
There have been reports suggest a rift between Galvin and his teammates, particularly halves partner Jarome Luai and Fonua Pole, who liked an Instagram post criticising Galvin.
(Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
“Unf—ingbelievable. We give you a shot at first grade and hand you the keys to the franchise with every tool possible around you to succeed cya mate,” said the Instagram post that Pole liked.
“Surely there’s no need to keep him around? Throw Doueihi or Bird at 6 until Latu returns if we’re serious about building and moving forward as a club.”
Galvin is set to become hot property when he officially hits the open market on November 1.
Parramatta, Manly and Canterbury are likely to be interested in his services as a top-tier playmaker, but the 19-year-old said no contract decisions had yet been made.
“Any suggestion that I already have a deal done at another club for 2027 is simply not true,” Galvin added.
“I just feel that as I move into an important period of my development as a half, that I continue to build my game at a different club.
“Again, I know this might be hard for some people to understand, but I make this decision in the best interests of my career.”
According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, Galvin was concerned about Marshall’s ability to get the best out of him, and that is why he rejected a six-year contract extension worth just under $1 million per season.
Galvin did not address the Marshall speculation in his statement.
Marshall confronted the young five-eighth at Concord last week in the lead-up to Sunday’s 20-4 win over Newcastle but after he told the coach that he was going to be testing the market on November 1, the negotiations fell apart on Monday when his manager, Isaac Moses, informed Tigers officials that his client would be leaving.
The Tigers then announced the 19-year-old, among the top talents of his generation, would not be at the joint venture after his contract expired at the end of the 2026 season.
They will not entertain an early release for Galvin, whose future had already been subject to speculation before a ball was kicked in 2025.
Galvin’s camp unsuccessfully agitated for an early exit from the club during a stellar 2024 rookie season but have not made the same request this time.
Canterbury are expected to be one of several clubs throwing a huge offer towards Galvin and Bulldogs general manager Phil Gould on 100% Footy on Monday night dodged questions about whether they would be in the hunt.
Gould has previously spoken highly of Galvin, whom he last year rated as the best teenage talent he had ever seen, a claim he repeated on Nine on Monday night.
He was bemused by the narrative leaking out that Galvin was unhappy being coached by Marshall.
“I find that extraordinary and somewhat untenable if in fact Lachlan Galvin comes out and endorses that statement,” he said.
“I doubt that Lachlan Galvin will want to be a party to comments that the current coach can’t improve his football for him.
“He doesn’t strike me as that sort of kid. That might have been part of the strategy from the manager to remove him from the club. It’s not good.”
The Bulldogs recently ruled out making a play for Cherry-Evans for 2026 on the grounds they backed their current first-choice playmakers Matt Burton and Toby Sexton.
Parramatta are expected to be keen on the teen sensation.
Benji Marshall. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Galvin played junior football for the Eels before being cut and landing at the Tigers to help feeder club Wests win the Harold Matthews Cup in 2022.
He is also managed by Isaac Moses, who also handles Eels half Mitch Moses.
But for Parramatta, making a play for Galvin would mean finding a stop-gap to play next to halfback Moses in 2026.
Galvin’s manager also has strong ties to the Sea Eagles, counting coach Anthony Seibold, five-eighth Luke Brooks and winger Tommy Talau among his clients there.
Manly are currently in the hunt for a playmaker to replace Cherry-Evans and have been linked with Canberra veteran Jamal Fogarty.
St George Illawarra are also on the lookout for talent with plenty of money to spend in the coming years and despite signing Dan Atkinson from the Sharks, they would be able to put plenty of dollars on the table for Galvin.
Dogs keen to scratch 87-year itch
Canterbury are eyeing the record for largest regular-season crowd in NRL history but that might not be the only slice of history waiting for the Bulldogs on Good Friday.
If Cameron Ciraldo’s men defeat annual Easter foes South Sydney at Accor Stadium, they would be on the equal-best start to the season in Bulldogs history, and the club’s best in 87 years.
Undefeated through five games, the Bulldogs have only won their first six games of a season once before, in the fourth year of their existence in 1938.
The club finished atop the table and broke through for a maiden premiership that year.
Sitili Tupouniua is tackled by Hamish Stewart. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
“It’s kind of crazy,” winger Jacob Kiraz said of the statistic.
“When we were going 2-0, we said (let’s try for) 3-0, and then it’s kept going.
“It’s still the early rounds. We’re just focused on this week and hopefully we go 6-0. That’d be pretty crazy.”
The ongoing season is among only five in the Bulldogs’ 91-year history during which they have won all of their first five premiership games.
In all of the others – 1938, 1947, 1974 and 1993 – the Bulldogs either made the grand final or finished atop the ladder, or both in the case of 1938.
Kiraz felt things were finally beginning to click for last year’s elimination finalists in their third season under head coach Cameron Ciraldo.
“Everyone knows their roles. We’ve got a really good friendship group. We’re all like brothers, we love each other, honestly,” he said.
“Out on the field, you’ll see, if one of us stuffs up or makes a mistake, all the other boys back them up and help them. That’s what it’s about. It’s the attitude.”
The Good Friday clash with Souths is on track to break the record for largest standalone regular-season crowd in premiership history, currently 59,708 from a 2013 clash between the Rabbitohs and Sydney Roosters.
By last week, Bulldogs membership staff had been confident of a crowd above 60,000, with 70,000 now a realistic target as the two clubs hit form through six rounds.
Not since 2016 have both sides sat in the top eight heading into a Good Friday clash, with fifth-placed Souths overcoming injury woes to post a 4-2 record.
“Hopefully (the crowd) does hit those numbers … it just shows how big of a game it is and day it is,” said Kiraz.
Five-eighth Matt Burton and second-rower Viliame Kikau are pushing to return from knee injuries to line up against Souths.
“They were training today, but I honestly wouldn’t know (if they’re going to play),” said prop Max King.
“I tried to ask the physios, but there’s new staff coming in every day. My best bet is a ‘yes’ but we’ll see how we go.
“I think naturally from the injury that Burto was always a bit better, and I think if we didn’t have the bye then Burto may have been back last week.”
Waerea-Hargreaves to hang up the boots
Sydney Roosters legend Jared Waerea-Hargreaves will retire at the end of the Super League season, closing the door on any chance of an NRL comeback.
The fearsome prop forward played 316 games across 16 NRL seasons, winning three premierships at the Roosters before joining English side Hull KR for 2025.
Previous reports had floated the possibility of an NRL return to the struggling 15th-placed Roosters but the 36-year-old will instead finish the year in England and then hang up the boots
“As I reflect on my journey and 18 seasons in rugby league, I have so much gratitude for the game itself,” Waerea-Hargreaves said in a statement.
“Rugby league has given me the honour of representing my country, life-long friends and memories that I’ll cherish forever.”
The Roosters paid tribute to Waerea-Hargreaves, who became a cornerstone of the club’s forward rotation on arrival from Manly in 2010.
He left at the end of last season as the foundation club’s most-capped player with 310 appearances.
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
“As one of the most respected front-rowers of his generation, Jared completed his NRL career as a Sydney Roosters legend, and his impact on and off the field ensures a lasting legacy across the game of rugby league,” said Roosters coach Trent Robinson.
“On behalf of his entire Roosters family, we congratulate Jared on an incredible rugby league career.”
Rotorua-born Waerea-Hargreaves featured six times for the Sea Eagles in his rookie 2009 season before joining the Roosters and playing in a grand final loss in his first season.
He became prized for his on-field physicality and aggression, attributes he maintained right to the end of his NRL career even as he lined up against much younger players.
He won the 2013, 2018 and 2019 premierships at the Roosters under Robinson, starting in the front row in all three victories.
In contrast to his fiery on-field persona, Waerea-Hargreaves was a softly-spoken, thoughtful character off the park, who came to relish his role as a leader in the Roosters’ forward pack.
He made 33 appearances for New Zealand, the last of those at the World Cup in 2022.
He has played nine games for ladder-leading Hull KR between the Super League and Challenge Cup competitions.
The club had been open to having him on the books next season.
“When we spoke about 2026, Jared said he’d made his decision and he said by the end of the season it would be time,” said coach Willie Peters.
“Jared deserves to retire on his terms. He certainly needs to go out on top of his game and he’s doing that at the moment.”
Bulldogs prop’s Ashes dilemma
Max King would love the chance to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and play in this year’s Ashes series.
But who for?
The Canterbury prop is yet to decide, with his form and a player drain to the Pacific nations putting the Huddersfield-born forward in the conversation to represent either the Kangaroos and England.
The ex-Melbourne forward has been one of the key cornerstones of Canterbury’s revival under Cameron Ciraldo heading into Good Friday’s clash against South Sydney with a 5-0 record.
King has yet to win representative honours but with Kangaroos regulars Payne Haas and Tino Fa’asuamaleaui set to represent Samoa at the end of this season, his chances of donning the green and gold later this year have increased.
But the 27-year-old says he remains open to accepting an England call-up.
King’s mother is from Dewsbury and the prop was born in Yorkshire while his father Dave was finishing his career in the Super League with Huddersfield.
“My mum’s side of the family would love that,” King told AAP.
“I always say I’m half English and half Aussie… I’d love to be able to get a call off anyone.
“The phone is always on and I’m always available to any caller.”
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
A call-up for Australia would mean King gets the chance to follow the trail blazed by his paternal grandfather Johnny King, who won 15 caps for the Kangaroos and played in three Ashes series.
“I didn’t think about it like that and it is so cool to share that family history but it would also be cool to pave my own path,” King said.
King arrived at Belmore in 2022 and having been through some of the club’s darkest days is loving the fact the ladder-leading Dogs have hit top gear under Ciraldo.
The former Gold Coast prop says he is only being spoken of as a representative player due to the club’s good results under Ciraldo.
“These things come from team success with everyone else performing,” King said.
“It puts your name in those (selection) pictures.
“That’s one thing that I’m thankful for is the way this club is going and the way my teammates are playing.
“It brings other names into selection (debates), Jacob Preston is doing a great job and I hope he gets a call (for the NSW State of Origin side).”
with AAP
