'Still dirty': Tigers fans issue warning to Lachie Galvin for Bulldogs grudge match

Yahoo

6 days ago

Wests Tigers fans have promised to bring the heat when Lachie Galvin runs out for the first time against the club he ditched mid-season. But they risk being drowned out by the rabid Bulldogs Army. The 20-year-old playmaker will line-up against the Tigers at CommBank Stadium on Sunday afternoon and can expect a serve from the home crowd with every touch of the ball.
David Craine is a lifelong Balmain/Wests Tigers fan and administers the 'Wests Tigers Will Never Die' Facebook page, which has more than 44,000 members. He predicts Galvin will cop a hostile reception from both fans and former teammates.
"The fans are still dirty over him walking out and will let him know. They will boo him at every opportunity," Craine told Yahoo Sport Australia. "And I believe it won't just be the fans - the players will be filthy as well.
"I've heard reports that the team want payback for what he said about Benji…basically saying he can't coach. These players are only there because they believe in Benji. They will want to send him (Galvin) a strong message."
But for all the passion and anger Tigers fans will muster, Craine concedes they face a tough time being heard over the raucous Bulldogs Army. Canterbury's fan base is on the march and turning up in big numbers during the club's best season in a decade.
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Galvin has won them over in recent weeks and can expect plenty of support from the blue and white corner. "I expect Dogs fans to be bigger and louder than our sobbing fans," Craine predicted.
"Their fans are the most passionate and noisy in the game and will try to drown the Tigers fans out. But we won't back down and they won't back down. We'll both be doing what we can to give our side an edge. It's all set up for a really feisty afternoon with plenty at stake for both teams."
Canterbury has kept Galvin out of the firing line this week, refusing to offer him up to media outlets for fear of heightening tensions. It's been left to teammates to speculate on how the rookie half will handle playing against the club he rejected two months ago.
Halves partner Matt Burton said: "He'll just go to another level and get better from that (scrutiny). That won't faze him at all.
"There's going to be a lot of talk, but whatever's in these four walls, we just stick together and we don't worry about that. It's like he's a 26-year-old in a 20-year-old's body. He's got that maturity about him."