Trouble brewing at Bulldogs: Not all players on board with Galvin signing
There’s trouble brewing at Belmore with not all players on board with the looming big-money, mid-season signing of Tigers teenager Lachlan Galvin.
Foxsports.com.au can reveal several Bulldogs players have told those close to them that they’re not keen on the polarising playmaker joining the club.
The main concern is the huge disruption Galvin has the potential to cause to their season, which has left players privately questioning why management are rocking the boat with them on top of the ladder.
The players’ other concern is how Galvin was willing to publicly and not-so-subtly sledge his current coach Benji Marshall in his now
infamous departure statement. It screamed of a player thinking they were bigger than the club.
Galvin hasn’t even arrived at Canterbury yet but the bad blood is already spilling at Belmore.
As
foxsports.com.aurevealed on Monday, hooker and former club captain Reed Mahoney - who is on over $600,000 per season - has been granted permission to leave his contract early.
Gould confirmed the story but denied it was linked with Galvin’s looming arrival. That’s despite Gould only granting Mahoney’s management permission to look elsewhere after speaking to Galvin’s camp last week.
NRL clubs are required to spend at least 95 per cent of the $11.4 million salary cap each year. Galvin’s $750,000 per season salary at the Bulldogs next year isn’t going to appear out of thin air.
It all adds up to players making way and so far it’s Mahoney and halfback Toby Sexton on the chopping block. Neither will be at the club in 2026.
If Galvin replaces Sexton in Round 14, it will surely be the first time in history a top-of-the-table halfback has been dropped for a teenager recruited mid-season from the reigning wooden spooners.
Sexton is popular at the Bulldogs and you can bet your bottom dollar if he’s axed for Galvin, as is expected, it will cause a drama in the dressing room.
Galvin may come out and have a blinder and nothing masks an issue like winning, but nothing amplifies it like losing — just ask Reece Walsh and his (gloved) right fist.
If the Dogs begin losing after their blistering start to the season, Cameron Ciraldo will have a serious job on his hands stopping Galvin’s arrival from derailing their entire campaign. (SMH)