Dogs show they see Galvin as half after joyous arrival

Scott Bailey | June 9, 2025

Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo has given the strongest indication yet he sees Lachlan Galvin as a long-term half, after the teen celebrated his Bulldogs arrival by scoring a try in a 30-12 win over Parramatta.

After a fortnight of speculation around his playing position at the Bulldogs, Galvin was forced to wait 57 minutes before entering the field against the Eels on Monday.

But when the teenage recruit entered with the Bulldogs leading 14-12, he did so at half, with off-contract No.7 Toby Sexton shifting to hooker.

Galvin responded by being heavily involved in Canterbury’s attack, linking with five-eighth Matt Burton in the lead up to a Viliame Kikau try.

And, after Harry Hayes crossed to make it 24-12, Galvin sealed the win by putting Connor Tracey into space on the right edge and staying alive in the play to score.

“He plays in the halves, that’s his preferred position,” Ciraldo said. 

“When we looked at bringing him in immediately we probably thought he could fill a number of positions and he might be able to do that. 

“But he is predominantly a half and I thought he did a great job tonight. 

“The learning is not over, he has been here a week. He still has a lot to learn. 

“But today has been a great start for him, we’re really proud of him and he has fitted in great.”

Galvin had been one of the most divisive figures in rugby league for the past two months, such was the nature of his highly-publicised exit from Wests Tigers.

But there was nothing but love from Bulldogs fans, with a crowd of 59,878 in Accor Stadium on Monday watching Canterbury stay top of the ladder.

The 19-year-old’s name was chanted before he even entered the field, while he earned a standing ovation as he ran on, and again with each of his first touches.

The roar was enormous when he crossed late in the match, 10 days after officially putting pen to paper on a three-and-a-half year deal with the Bulldogs.

Ciraldo admitted afterwards he had not initially planned on playing Galvin earlier in the week.

“I thought he would play NSW Cup,” Ciraldo said. 

“But every training session he did he got better, he understood our systems better.

“And by the end of the week it was clear we needed to have him in the team and he could help us win the game.”

Notable too was how impressive Sexton’s kicking game was for Canterbury before moving to hooker.

Sexton is seemingly unlikely to be re-signed, but showed he could spend more time at dummy-half on Monday.

“We had a little crack at it at training and it’s something we thought we needed to win the game at the back end there,” Ciraldo said. 

“I thought our attack functioned really well with him at hooker and that allowed Lachy to play his natural role. 

“We talk a lot about putting the team before yourself, and Toby did that tonight as he does all the time.”

Canterbury’s starting hooker Reed Mahoney cut a dejected figure in the sheds afterwards, and did not speak to media as he left the stadium.

It came after a game where Canterbury dominated field position for the majority of the match, only for Parramatta’s resolute defence to keep them in the contest.

Burton picked off a Ryley Smith pass from a scrum to go 60 metres and score the Bulldogs’ first in the seventh minute. The Eels quickly responded in kind when Zac Lomax intercepted one of Burton’s and Mitch Moses completed a 90-metre effort.

The teams were then again level at 12-12, before Parramatta’s 10 second-half errors told and the blue-and-gold wall eventually broke to leave them 16th on the ladder.

“We’re our own worst enemy at the moment,” Moses said.

“The last few weeks we have beaten ourselves a bit and not nailed opportunities.”