Bulldogs Skipper Stands by Lachlan Galvin as Halfback
Bulldogs captain Stephen Crichton has firmly supported Lachlan Galvin as the club’s best option at halfback, despite calls from former playmaker Andrew Johns to move him to five-eighth. The eighth Immortal suggested that the Bulldogs should shift Galvin into the six jersey and bring in rookie Mitchell Woods at halfback to inject more creativity following a recent loss to the Broncos.
Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo strongly defended his young playmaker after Friday’s match, and Crichton has backed up his stance by highlighting Galvin’s impressive performance in round 6, where he led Canterbury to a surprising win over Penrith.
Galvin has developed a strong partnership with edge forward Jacob Preston since moving to Belmore, but there are still areas of his game that need refinement. Crichton noted that while Galvin had an outstanding game against the Panthers, his performance in the following weeks did not meet expectations.
“The way he played against the Panthers, everyone was probably on his side saying he’s the best halfback that week. Now two weeks later, he probably hasn’t performed the way he wanted to,” Crichton said.
“That’s a reflection on the boys around him probably not helping him do his job as well. We definitely know that he is our halfback. The way he played against the Panthers is the way halfbacks should be playing.”
Crichton added that Galvin is capable of performing at that level, but the team needs to support him better.
“I feel like we’re not helping him enough as players around him. We’ve just reviewed the way he played against the Panthers and he is capable of doing it. He’s been playing what he’s been learning at training. He’s been getting criticised a lot lately for the way that our team’s been performing.”
“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 and in a couple of years’ time, or even now, he’s learning these lessons.”
As a 20-year-old, Galvin is expected to become one of the greats, according to Crichton. “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 isn’t the only one facing criticism at the club as it struggles to bridge the gap between its best and worst performances. The Bulldogs have won three of their seven matches this season, sitting outside the top eight, while they were first 12 months ago with just one loss through the opening eight rounds.
“I haven’t felt this much criticism since I got to the club,” Crichton said ahead of Friday’s game against the Cowboys.
“But we’re at a big club with a big fan base. There are always going to be people with their opinion. I feel like we’ve been really clear with our boys where our answers lie, and that’s inside our four walls.”
“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. There are always going to be people’s opinions out there regardless if it is good or bad.”
Crichton emphasized the importance of learning from the weekend’s performance. “Taking the lessons out of the weekend and learning from it is the biggest thing for us. 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.”
He also pointed out lapses in concentration and effort during the match. “There are probably lapses in concentration there and the effort areas where we need our effort wasn’t there on the weekend too. We’ve had that spoken about in video and I think the biggest thing now is learning from those lessons and not letting it happen again.”
