‘Thrilled’ Canterbury Bulldogs reply to Tigers’ cold Lachlan Galvin act

The Tigers finally confirmed Lachlan Galvin’s departure and now the Bulldogs have taken to social media to show off their new signing.

The Wests Tigers have finally confirmed Lachlan Galvin’s departure, releasing a brief, terse statement declaring his move to “another NRL club”, while the Bulldogs have also responded.

In a saga that dragged on for weeks, the 19-year-old had been angling for a move away from Concord Oval, with the Bulldogs emerging as his destination over the past week.

FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.

While the move was widely accepted, and Galvin was snapped in Bulldogs gear for the first time on Friday, it had yet to be officially stamped by either club.

But just after 5pm AEST on Friday, the Tigers confirmed the news in a three-line, 56-word statement.

Lachlan Galvin and the Bulldogs make it official. Photo: Facebook

Ending his time with the Tigers. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

“Wests Tigers and Lachlan Galvin have mutually agreed to an immediate conclusion of his playing contract,” the statement read.

It then added a quote from Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson and Galvin.

“We wish Lachlan all the best with another NRL Club,” Richardson said.

Galvin added: “I am grateful to the Wests Tigers Board and Management for granting my early release. I wish the playing group success in the future.”

The Bulldogs then finally made their own public move, posting a video of Galvin wearing their colours and juggling a footy before signing a camera screen.

In a curious move, they coupled the video with Eminem’s smash hit, The Real Slim Shady.

The Canterbury club was much more effusive in a statement then posted to its official website at 7.30pm on Friday.

“The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are pleased to announce the signing of Lachlan Galvin, effective immediately,” it read.

“The 19-year-old joins the club on a deal that secures him until the end of 2028.

“A talented playmaker, Galvin has starred on the junior representative stage.

“He was a member of the 2022 Harold Matthews Cup title-winning Western Suburbs side before guiding Westfield Sports High to victory in the National Schoolboys Cup in 2023 under Bulldogs assistant coach Luke Vella.

Galvin in Bulldogs colours after his Tigers departure. Photos: Supplied/Getty Images

“He was also named as Captain of the Australian Schoolboys team that same year.

“Galvin arrives to Belmore with 31 NRL games under his belt since making his first-grade debut in 2024 and has notched up a total of 24 try assists, while also averaging over 120 running metres per game.

“The club is thrilled to welcome Lachlan to the Bulldogs family.”

One of Galvin’s final moves in a Tigers jumper was dropping the ball over the tryline late in the club’s round 11 loss to South Sydney.

The Tigers had a bye last week and Galvin wasn’t selected for this week’s clash with the Cowboys.

Over the course of this ordeal, Richardson had previously insisted Galvin would be seeing out his contract, which ran until the end of 2026.

The highly rated young half sparked the furore when it emerged he had turned down a five-year, $6 million extension from the joint-venture club.

Amid allegations of social media bullying from some of his teammates, Galvin was dropped by coach Benji Marshall last month before returning to the team.

In an ugly saga, Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould found himself in the spotlight after he was accused of deliberately misleading fans over Galvin.

The relationship between Galvin and the Tigers quickly soured and now the youngster has got his wish, despite taking a significant pay cut.

Galvin’s move was all but sealed earlier on Friday after one punter snapped a video of him training in blue and white.

Galvin has officially severed ties with the Tigers. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

The video, which was posted by X user @BecharaRob, showed Galvin standing on the field at Belmore Sports Ground with a Bulldogs top on.

Galvin has reportedly agreed to a salary with the Dogs that averages out to $750,000 per season, with club confirming the 19-year-old is contracted until the end of 2028.

It had been reported Galvin’s release from his current Tigers contract hinged on a non-disparagement clause, which would legally stop him from talking about his exit.

The Bulldogs were said to be on board with that stipulation, along with the $175,000 release fee needed to secure his services for this season.

Shane Richardson’s statement was short and sharp. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

It is not the first time the Bulldogs have had key signing news spoiled, with a photo of second rower Viliame Kikau in team colours alongside former coach Trent Barrett and general manager Phil Gould leaked onto social media in 2021.

There had been speculation at the time Kikau was Belmore-bound from the Panthers, yet before the club or Fiji international had a chance to even announce the deal publicly, a grainy photo taken off a security camera found its way onto social media.

It was later revealed that a Canterbury League Club employee was the culprit behind the photo.

Meanwhile, Tigers coach Marshall fronted media on Friday for the first time since Galvin’s move to the Bulldogs was widely reported, telling journalists he has “noticed a real lift in energy” among his playing group.

Benji Marshall is very keen to move on from the Galvin saga. Photo: Tom Parrish

“Obviously, (we’ve) got a few guys coming in that haven’t played … who’ve brought a lot of energy to the team and then with our leaders they’ve been driving a really good preparation coming off the back of a bye,” Marshall said.

“We had a good reflection of where we went good and where we can improve in the first half of the season and we’re looking to put those into place this weekend.”

The Galvin saga has dominated headlines for over a month now, with Marshall admitting everyone is “probably a little bit sick of talking about it”.

When asked if he was disappointed to be losing the five-eighth, Marshall replied “I don’t know if disappointment’s the word”.

“Look, at the same time we like our players we’ve got, we love the squad we’ve got,” he added.

“We’re excited about some of the young players we’ve got coming through and for us, we want to try and make a mark on competition this year and with the squad we’ve got, we’re confident we can do that but we’ve got to put it together this weekend.”

Originally published as ‘Thrilled’ Canterbury Bulldogs reply to Tigers’ cold Lachlan Galvin act