Lachlan Galvin must cop time in NSW Cup for the betterment of the Bulldogs

Lachlan Galvin is again the big story of the NRL weekend even though he didn’t lace on his football boots in Townsville. This is why Cameron Ciraldo’s decision to sit his star was the right one.

Lachlan Galvin is again the big story of the NRL weekend even though he didn’t lace on his football boots in Townsville.

Instead, the boom mid-season import flew 2000km to North Queensland to sit inside Cameron Ciraldo’s coaching box, a shock omission from the side just an hour before kick-off.

After weeks of confusion and uncertainty around the Bulldogs’ best 17, Ciraldo’s decision was the right one for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, it proved Matt Burton belongs at five-eighth and can never again be moved to the centres like in the previous week’s loss to the Broncos when Stephen Crichton was out.

And that hooker Reed Mahoney is an 80-minute player, illustrated by his magnificent, bulldozing defence at the back end of the game as the Cowboys desperately tried to snatch a matchwinning try.

So where to go from here for the Bulldogs.

Cameron Ciraldo made the right selection call to sit Lachlan Galvin.

Approaching the finals they need to build continuity, cohesion and maintain momentum.

Surely you can no longer take Mahoney off after 50 minutes and move Toby Sexton to hooker, especially in the tougher encounters like we witnessed in Townsville.

Let’s be fair dinkum here.

Galvin was picked up by the Bulldogs as a big-picture signing for the future.

He’s a wonderful young player who is still two or three years away from his peak when he might well be the young man to deliver premierships.

But there are still question marks about using him off the bench for the remainder of the season. There are already enough utility players such as Bailey Hayward and Kurt Mann who can cover the positions that Galvin would normally handle from the bench.

Sure, Galvin is the flashier player but these two are experienced, big-game performers.

At this stage of the year, Galvin would be better off playing football in the NSW Cup.

(Please don’t see this as bullying the kid. It’s just an opinion.)

That way, if there are injuries and he’s needed later in the year, he’ll at least be match conditioned.

After a hard-fought victory, Ciraldo spoke of the Galvin situation at his press conference.

Not that he was giving too much away about his plans in the run home to the finals.

“I’m not too sure about that,” he said. “We’ll see how that goes.

“We just thought we needed an extra forward on the bench for this game.”

It was interesting on Saturday night to watch both Sexton and Mahoney – the two unwanted players who are out the door at the end of the season.

Sexton more than held his own against Origin hero and Wally Lewis medallist Tom Dearden.

And Mahoney clearly finished ahead of Blues Origin hooker Reece Robson.

He’s now got all the crap out of his game and I love him as a footballer and as a competitor.

The two of them have played such important roles to get the Bulldogs into the top four.

That’s why there is no room for Galvin under the team’s current circumstances.

Originally published as Lachlan Galvin must cop time in NSW Cup for the betterment of the Bulldogs