Canterbury Captain Supports Lachlan Galvin’s Potential
Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton has passionately defended Lachlan Galvin’s ability to be a halfback, predicting the struggling playmaker could become an NRL great despite criticism from former star Andrew Johns.
Galvin’s performance has come under intense scrutiny after the Bulldogs suffered a 32-12 loss to a weakened Brisbane Broncos side on Friday, marking their third win in four games this season. Since his controversial move to Belmore from Wests Tigers midway through 2025, Galvin has won just seven of the 16 games he has started at halfback.
The Bulldogs are among the lowest-scoring teams in the league, averaging just 19 points through their first seven matches. This poor form led Johns to suggest on the Nine Network that Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo should end the experiment and move Galvin back to his more familiar position of five-eighth.
However, Crichton highlighted Galvin’s performance in the Dogs’ 32-16 victory over premiership favorites Penrith earlier this month as evidence that the 20-year-old is the right choice to lead Canterbury forward.
“The way he played against the Panthers, everyone was on his side, saying he was the best halfback that week,” Crichton said. “Now, two weeks later, he probably hasn’t performed the way he would’ve wanted to, and that’s a reflection of the boys around him not helping him do his job.”
“We definitely know that he is our halfback, and the way he played against the Panthers is the way a halfback should be playing.”
Galvin has remained largely out of the media spotlight this season and has not publicly addressed his form. Crichton believes the criticism the playmaker is facing is “pretty harsh.”
“I feel for Lachie,” he said. “He has been getting criticised a lot lately for the way that our team has been performing and ever since he’s come to the club. I’ve always said, if you’re not getting criticised, you’re not doing your job right.”
“He’ll be learning from this. He’s learning these lessons as a young 20-year-old, and he’s going to become a player – like 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.”
Crichton, whose side will host North Queensland on Friday, said the frustration with Canterbury’s form has been the fiercest he has experienced.
“I haven’t felt this much criticism since I got to the club, to be honest,” the centre said. “But with a big club and a big fan base, there’s always going to be people with their opinion.”
“I feel like we’ve been really clear with our boys where our answers lay, and that’s inside our four walls, regardless of media attention and social media posts. As long as you have the opinion of your players and the coaching staff, that’s the only opinions that you can listen to.”
