Secret document flips script on Lachlan Galvin salary drama as Bulldogs primed for NRL premiership
Lachlan Galvin's move to the Bulldogs has been clouded in controversy as many questioned where he fits into Canterbury's side, but a secret document shows it may be the final piece of their NRL premiership puzzle.
The teenager's future was finally confirmed on Friday, with the Tigers releasing him and the Bulldogs later confirming they had signed him on a three-and-a-half-year deal worth around $750,000 a season.
FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.
However, his arrival at Belmore means halfback Toby Sexton – who has been a revelation in 2025 – is expected to make way.
Therefore many Bulldogs fans felt bringing the 19-year-old was not only unnecessary but could destabilise the club, who are first on the NRL ladder.
But statistically, the Bulldogs' bid to end their 21-year premiership drought is only boosted by the arrival of Galvin, with their roster now ready for a serious title challenge, according to the NRL's confidential benchmarking documents.
The salary cap documents, obtained by Code Sports, outline the average wage for each position and provide somewhat of a blueprint for building a premiership-winning roster.
And they revealed that last year's top four spent 40 per cent of their salary cap on their top five players and 60 per cent on their top 10 players – meaning the top five paid players are paid $4.5 million. The teams also had an average spine age of 26.
So the data says the way to build a premiership-winning team is to have at least three marquee players on $800,000 a season, a younger spine and a top-heavy roster.
Incredibly the Bulldogs, with the arrival of Galvin, now tick every box except their overall spend on top players being below the $4.5m benchmark.
That is because Canterbury is one of the only clubs without a $1m plus marquee player. Stephen Crichton, Viliame Kikau and Matt Burton are the only three at the club on more than $800,000 a season, with that number up to four when Leo Thompson joins the Belmore outfit.
But many could argue Galvin is a $1m player himself, given he was offered more than that a season to stay at the Tigers, which means data-wise wise at least the Bulldogs are primed for a premiership.
If you take a look at four-time premiers Penrith, the way their squad is structured is very similar to that of how the Bulldogs.
The Panthers' spine had an average age of 26.75, they had three players believed to be earning more than $800,000 a year – Nathan Cleary, James Fisher-Harris and Isaah Yeo – and had other stars just under that mark, Dylan Edwards and Jarome Luai.
Salary structures historically also showed those who didn't have several stars on at least $800,000 found themselves near the bottom of the table.
Last year, for example, the bottom four teams had an average of 2.8 players in their roster on at least $800,000.
So if data and history are anything to go by, the key to building a premiership-winning side is to have several stars on close to $1m a year and a handful of others around the $600,000 to $800,000 mark, and a spine that is reaching their prime and not beyond it.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Unusual' thing happening to the Aussie dollar in wake of Trump tariffs, says Reserve Bank
The global uncertainty sparked by US President Donald Trump's tariff agenda has resulted in something unusual happening to the Australian dollar. RBA assistant governor Sarah Hunter noted on Tuesday that the Aussie dollar has been behaving differently against the greenback than what we would historically expect. 'When the outlook for global growth weakens, the Australian dollar typically depreciates,' she explained in a speech at the Economic Society of Australia Business Lunch in Brisbane. This is because investors expect the Australian economy 'to be buffeted by the global headwinds and the RBA to respond with cuts to the cash rate'. The fact that the Australian dollar is a 'risk-sensitive' currency also contributes to the depreciation as 'when global investors are worried, they tend to focus on reducing risk exposure, moving their capital to low-risk assets in countries like the United States, Switzerland and Japan.' 'This means the Australian dollar tends to lose value against these currencies,' she said. When Trump announced his global 'Liberation Day' tariffs the Aussie dollar did as expected and fell, plummeting to below 60 US cents for the first time since the pandemic. However in recent weeks, the Aussie has recovered against the greenback and has been sitting between 64 and 65 US cents which, according to Dr Hunter, is 'more unusual' in a continuing time of uncertainty. Dr Hunter said this is in part due to a broad weakness in the USD after some global investors reduced their exposure to US assets. 'The weakness in the US dollar during a period of heightened risk is in contrast with many previous episodes,' she said, 'though it's too early to know whether this dynamic will continue.'
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
GPS artist's epic large-scale sketch of Lionel Messi ends in disaster after king tide swallows his car
A fitness enthusiast who creates large scale digital sketches using GPS and a run tracking app copped a messy surprise after completing his latest creation. Peter Mitchell spent most of Friday running and jogging to a specific set of coordinates along a stretch of remote sand dunes near Sandy Point, about three hours from Melbourne. After five hours and some 15 kilometres of distance covered, his epic drawing of football legend Lionel Messi was complete. The feeling of satisfaction was short-lived, after he returned to his red Toyota Yaris parked on the sand and found an unusually high king tide had swallowed it. 'I came around the corner and saw it, and I thought: 'Oh no, how am I going to get out of here? How am I going to get home?' Mr Mitchell told 'It's quite remote out there and there's not a lot around.' Dusk was rapidly approaching, the mercury had dropped significantly, and the 50-year-old was drenched from wading through the water. The nearest town was about a 30-minute drive away and Mr Mitchell faced the prospect of having to walk there. He grabbed a few essentials from his submerged car, including his diabetes medication, and ventured to the road. 'My hands were going blue because I'd been standing around in the water for so long. I thought maybe I'd be best to go for a bit of a jog to get down to the town. And then I saw this lady and asked for her help.' Ironically, the woman had come down to the beach to check out the king tide, which she'd heard was a sight to see that day. She drove Mr Mitchell to the town of Forster, which is a thriving hub in warmer months but slows right down over winter. 'I had a few wee dramas there because I was soaked right through. I had to get food into me because I hadn't had lunch – it was in the car and all wet. I went down to the pub, but I'm like, I can't go in bare feet, but my shoes and socks were absolutely soaking. 'I used a few tea towels, wrapped them around my feet as socks to absorb some of the water, and rocked into the pub and had a meal.' Warm and with a full belly, Mr Mitchell turned his mind to how he was going to salvage his beloved little car – and get home to the Mornington Peninsula. 'I spoke to a mechanic, who put me onto a few other people, they'd give me numbers, and it went around in circles. Finally, I got a hold of a guy with a tractor and he said he'd pull it out for $500.' A few friends from Melbourne were prepared to hire a trailer, drive to Sandy Point, and take Mr Mitchell and the Yaris home. 'I thought, OK, I'll go down to the beach as early as I can to check out the situation and see how bad it looks before I ring this guy with the tractor. But there's no taxis. I rang the one place, and it went to their answer machine, because it's the off-season. 'I'm just about to try hitchhiking when the taxi lady rang me back. So, she drove me there. We had an interesting conversation on the way.' In the bright light of day, and with the tide out, his car 'didn't look too bad' and Mr Mitchell had expected it to sink into the wet sand overnight. He sat inside it to survey the damage. It was full of water. But out of interest, he tried to turn it over – and it started. 'I thought, there's no way in hell. I literally closed my eyes and prayed. It started. Then I thought, this thing isn't going to move, but it did, and I drove straight off the beach. 'I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to turn it off again, but I phoned a mate who knows a bit about cars and asked what I should do. He said I should have a go driving it home. At least if it died, I'd be on the side of a road and could get help.' Miraculously, Mr Mitchell made it all the way to his house – about 155 kilometres away. 'Every time I stopped or went around a corner, all the water inside the car would slosh around. It was splishing and splashing all over the place.' The entire ordeal stretched for more than 24 hours and he described it as 'a rollercoaster' of emotions. 'It went from doing a really good Strava and feeling good about that to seeing the car and worrying, then being stranded and wondering if I was going to get hypothermia, to the car starting and actually working, then next thing I'm home. 'It was a relief. My car is pretty old anyway, it's got 240,000 kilometres on it, so I'm pretty amazed. But it was a long day. I'm still kind of unpacking it.' Mr Mitchell shared a video clip of the saga to his social media channels, where he has built a loyal global following over the past several months. To mark his 50th birthday last year, he created a large-scale map of the world by doing 170 kilometres of running through inner-city Melbourne and shared it on Strava, the run tracking app, and it went viral. After that, he started posting his creations to Instagram and later TikTok, receiving millions of views and occasionally generating international media buzz. For example, his sketch of LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant saw him interviewed on ESPN and CBS News in the United States. 'I've been working more on the high precision stuff at parks or the beach with smaller detailed elements. Using street routing, you can't get that same level of detail and there are lots of constraints. 'But if you're doing it in a big open area, you can do almost anything. It's amazing. I enjoy everything about it.' What started out as a bit of fun and a way of adding an additional challenge to his regular running regimen has taken Mr Mitchell somewhere he never imagined. 'I'm new to social media. I hadn't really used it before this. It's incredible to see how people respond to them. It's just nuts.' He has partnered with Strava and Telstra on a few projects and has a few more lined up with Foot Looker and the Melbourne Marathon. 'I would never have believed any of this happening in my wildest dreams.' While it's far from big bucks, it's a sign that Mr Mitchell has found a strong niche and could turn his burgeoning brand into something special. Until then, he's now wondering how he will go about replacing his Yaris. While it got him home, it's almost certainly a write-off. A friend from his running club started a Go Fund Me appeal on his behalf, calling for fans and supporters to chip in a few bucks to help ease the financial burden. 'I told them, there are a million good causes out there and people have got better things to spend their money on, but they insisted and set it up. It's nice, but I was reluctant. I'm just rolling with it.' When he has enough to buy himself a new car, there's no doubt what brand he'll consider. 'A second-hand Toyota, I think,' he laughed. 'I mean, it's proven to be pretty reliable and resilient.'
The Australian
3 hours ago
- The Australian
Artemis on 5000m Pilbara drill drive
Artemis Resources to launch 5000m drill program to expand Carlow gold project Includes 3800m of wide-spaced diamond drilling to enhance 374,000oz gold and 64,000t copper Carlow deposits Application for potential new IOCG prospect at Cassowary near Kalgoorlie Special Report: Artemis Resources is about to embark on a key drilling program seeking to expand one of the most prominent gold and copper resources in WA's legendary Pilbara region. While it doesn't have the scale (yet) of a Hemi or Karlawinda, Artemis (ASX:ARV) has used the gold price boom to refocus its attention on the 374,000oz gold and 64,000t copper Carlow gold project. Its gold bounty is likely to be far more extensive than previously known, essentially proven in early drilling conducted under the watch of new managing director and ASX exploration legend Julian Hanna, which found a headline hit of 7m at 2.9g/t Au (including 1m at 15.3g/t) 600m from the existing resource. A 3800m diamond drill program will chase extensions beyond the limit of current drilling, including to close the knowledge gap across that 600m divide. The wide-spaced drill program will also follow up an historic intersection of 4m at 11.1g/t Au and 2% Cu some 120m below the limits of the Carlow resource shell, with drilling showing the mineralisation there remains open below 380m. On top of that, a dedicated project manager has been appointed to oversee technical studies including metallurgical testwork, conceptual mining studies and a review of processing options. 'The next few months should be an exciting period for Artemis with drill programs aimed at growing the scale of the Carlow project and technical studies required to move Carlow towards possible feasibility and early development stages,' Hanna said. 'The first priority is widely spaced diamond drilling to scope out potential for significant extensions to the high-grade gold and copper lodes along strike and below the mineral resource announced in October 2022, and to provide core samples for metallurgical testwork.' Golden opportunity The Carlow extension drilling in the September quarter will use large diameter drill holes to collect samples for met testwork. Wide-spaced drilling, which follows the March quarter program, detailed surface mapping and a hole by hole review of more than 400 historical holes will test a new interpretation of the geology at the site. It will target two areas: the 600m-long zone along strike from Carlow East, which extends below the Andover Intrusion, and a 1500m-long zone below the Carlow West and East resources. '5-6 diamond holes spaced 200m apart are initially planned to scope out potential for high grade lodes extending into the two target areas,' Artemis says. 'These areas are supported by high-grade gold intersected in two historic and recent holes (20CCDD003 and 25ARDD001) and by the new geological interpretation of low angle thrusting continuing below Carlow.' But there's more on the agenda. A 1200m drill program using low cost reverse circulation techniques will also kick off in the September quarter, zeroing in on the Titan geophysical anomalies, where high grade surface gold has been found just 2km west of Carlow. 'RC drilling at Titan will initially test a near-circular ~400m wide gravity anomaly (G1) with small outcrops of brecciated and sheared chert which returned assays up to 41.4g/t gold (sample ID: 24AR28-048 reported January 28, 2025) from surface samples of ferruginous chert,' Hanna said. 'RC drilling is also planned across the Titan thrust zone to test the wider potential of this unusual feature. A heritage survey to enable wider access for drilling at Titan is scheduled in July.' The first target is G1, an anomaly 700m west of Artemis drilling which peaked at 1m at 16.4g/t in porphyry. Ten shallow RC holes are planned there after a heritage survey scheduled for mid-July. Artemis will launch into a 5000m drill program at Carlow and Titan in the September quarter. Pic: ARV Watch: Artemis joins forces with GreenTech Metals for lithium JV Last but not least Not content just with its Pilbara quarry, Artemis has gazed out further for early stage exploration opportunities, placing its foot on the Cassowary Intrusion. There it hopes to uncover a potential iron oxide copper-gold discovery – the style responsible for the mammoth Aussie copper and gold deposits at Olympic Dam, Oak Dam, Prominent Hill, Carrapateena and Ernest Henry – 450km east of Kalgoorlie. An application has been made for an exploration licence at the project, where the target elucidated from regional magnetic data appears to sit below an estimated 250-300m of Eucla Basin sediments based on diamond drilling of other prospects in the region. An interpretation of the magnetic data shows the Cassowary Intrusion is large, sitting over 5km wide, and occurs in a 'unique geological setting on the margin of the >500km long Madura Crustal Boundary at the intersection with a cross-cutting fault.' The ground around Cassowary is hot property for mining majors. Pic: ARV 'The Company's other outstanding exploration project is the interpreted Cassowary Intrusion which occurs in a unique geological setting on the margin of a >500km long north-east trending crustal boundary, with surrounding geology disrupted over 10s of kms,' Hanna said. 'Cassowary is a rare opportunity to drill for possible IOCG type copper/gold mineralisation. Artemis's 330km2 EL application which covers Cassowary is expected to be granted in September Quarter and planning is underway for a gravity survey to assist drill targeting. 'We look forward to reporting progress on these three gold and copper opportunities as soon as possible.' Nearby tenement applicants in the surrounding region include WA1 Resources (ASX:WA1) and Canadian giant Teck Resources, which has applied for seven ELs, showing the scale of the opportunity. This article was developed in collaboration with Artemis Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing. This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
