A fierce debate over the future of young Canterbury Bulldogs playmaker Lachlan Galvin has erupted in the NRL, after rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns called for the 20-year-old to be shifted out of the halfback position, drawing a staunch defense from the club’s senior leadership.
Johns, one of the sport’s most legendary halfbacks, made the recommendation that Galvin move to five-eighth, with rookie Mitchell Woods brought into the starting halfback spot to boost the side’s attacking creativity. The suggestion came in the wake of Canterbury’s underwhelming loss to an injury-depleted Brisbane Broncos side last week, a result that added to growing criticism of Galvin’s recent form.
But Bulldogs captain Stephen Crichton has doubled down on the club’s public support for the young playmaker, echoing head coach Cameron Ciraldo’s strong defense of Galvin after the Broncos match. Crichton pointed to Galvin’s standout round 6 performance, where the young halfback turned in the best NRL showing of his fledgling career to spearhead a shocking upset win over premiership favorites Penrith Panthers.
Crichton argued that the swing in public opinion on Galvin, from widespread praise just two weeks ago to heavy criticism after the Broncos loss, ignores inconsistent support from the rest of the Bulldogs squad. He emphasized that the club remains fully committed to Galvin as their long-term starting halfback, noting that the young playmaker’s dominant performance against Penrith embodied the level of play the side expects from the position.
“He’s been getting criticised a lot lately for the way that our team’s been performing,” Crichton said. “Ever since he’s come to the club, I’ve always said that if you’re not getting criticised, you’re not doing your job right. I feel like he’ll be learning off this… As a young 20-year-old, he’s going to become a player – one of the greats – sooner or later. I feel like all the lessons that he’s taking right now are pretty harsh, but it’s going to build him up to be the player that he wants to be.”
Galvin, who has built a strong on-field combination with edge forward Jacob Preston since joining the Bulldogs, still has gaps in his game that require development, Crichton acknowledged, adding that Galvin was far from the only Canterbury player to underperform against Brisbane.
The position debate comes as Canterbury navigates a dramatic form slump 12 months on from a flying start to their 2023 campaign. This year, the Bulldogs have claimed just three wins from their opening seven matches, leaving them outside the NRL’s top eight, a stark contrast to this point last season when they sat atop the league table with only one loss through the first eight rounds and were considered genuine premiership contenders.
Crichton, who will lead the side against the North Queensland Cowboys this coming Friday, admitted he has not faced this level of public criticism at any point during his time at the club. But the captain said the squad is tuning out outside noise from media and social media, focusing instead on internal accountability to address their inconsistent performances.
“We’re at a big club with a big fan base. There are always going to be people with their opinion,” Crichton said. “Regardless of media attention and regardless of social media posts and things like that, as long as you have the opinion of your players and the coaching staff, that’s the only opinions that you can listen to… We know what our best is, and our worst is a long way away from that as well. We’ve just got to try and bridge that gap between our mindset and our preparation to the game.”