Galvin ends month of headlines with try in Bulldogs win
Lachlan Galvin has announced his Canterbury arrival by scoring a try and taking over as halfback, helping the Bulldogs stay top of the NRL in a 30-12 win over Parramatta.
After a fortnight of speculation around his playing position, Galvin was forced to wait 57 minutes before entering the field against the Eels on Monday.
When the teenage recruit did come on, he did so at half, with off-contract No.7 Toby Sexton shifting to hooker, in the surest sign yet of the Bulldogs' long-term plan.
Galvin responded by being heavily involved in Canterbury's attack, and linking with five-eighth Matt Burton in the lead up to a Viliame Kikau try to put the Bulldogs up 18-12.
And, after Harry Hayes crossed to make it 24-12, Galvin capped his arrival in the No.23 jersey by scoring his first try in Bulldogs colours to seal the match.
After putting fullback Connor Tracey into space on the right edge, Galvin backed up on the play and ran onto a Josh Curran pass to score after a Jacob Kiraz offload.
A TRY FOR THE NEW BULLDOG... LACHLAN GALVIN 🗣️#NRLBulldogsEels Telstra Moment of the Match. pic.twitter.com/FErQJ0KQlc
— NRL (@NRL) June 9, 2025
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.
The 19-year-old's name was chanted before he even entered the field and he earned a standing ovation as he ran on and again with each of his first touches.
And 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.
Notable too was how impressive Sexton's kicking game was for Canterbury before Galvin came on.
The Bulldogs' regular halfback also entered Monday under intense scrutiny, given he is off-contract and seemingly unlikely to now be re-signed.
Canterbury were able to dominate field position for the majority of the match, only for Parramatta's resolute defence to keep them in the contest.
Burton scored early for the Bulldogs when he picked off a Ryley Smith pass from a scrum and went 60 metres to score.
But the Eels returned the favour moments later when Zac Lomax intercepted a Burton pass and put Mitch Moses into space to score a 90-metre try.
The Bulldogs took a 12-6 lead back when Burton went to the shortside in the 20th minute and sent Marcelo Montoya over.
However the match swung again when Viliame Kikau was sin-binned for dagerous contact on a kicking Moses just before halftime and the Eels levelled the score on the next set.
Canterbury went 14-12 clear when Moses was penalised for a high shot in the 50th minute, before the Bulldogs ran away with it late with Galvin the centre of attention.
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