The biggest question about Lachlan Galvin joining the ladder leading Bulldogs is where he fits into the team this year and can he help improve their chances of winning the title?
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The Bulldogs have not made a Grand Final since 2014 and they haven’t tasted premiership glory since 2004, but they are on track to break that drought in 2025, even before Galvin’s signing.
A player of the quality of Galvin obviously improves the Bulldogs’ roster on paper, but it remains to be seen if he will suit the dynamic of the side and whether his arrival creates too many changes to the cohesiveness of the team.
Braith Anasta believes Galvin will be a great long-term signing for the Bulldogs, but bringing him into a top of the table team mid-season is not without risk or potential growing pains.
“What do they do immediately?” Anasta asked on Fox League.
“Look at this team right now, they’re coming first. Sexton’s doing a great job and he has done for quite a while now.
“This kid, it’s the million dollar question or the $750,000 question. Where do you put him straight away? I know down the track, I think it’s a good signing too. It can’t be a bad one.”
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However, Michael Ennis believes Galvin could be the missing piece of their premiership puzzle.
“You’ve been at Canterbury, you know. Canterbury don’t just want to play finals,” Ennis said.
“They don’t want to go out in Round 1 of the finals this year. They want to win a competition. They feel like they’re close.
“They must feel that Galvin’s going to get them to that point where they are that confident. They must feel that he is going to come into that side and be able to get them to a preliminary final or to a grand final.”
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Anasta questioned if the move that would be least disruptive to the team would be to play Galvin at halfback.
“Do you put him No.7?” Anasta asked.
Ennis believes the game has changed from the traditional halfback and running five-eighth model and Galvin can be a success at No.7 alongside Burton.
“Well if you look at the game, I think that’s where the game is at,” Ennis said.
“The game is in a great spot. We’re going to see it today. You get the traditional halfback, Jamal Fogarty who can steer a side around, own it with his kicking game, be controlled, be measured.
“Then all of a sudden you get on the other side of the field, you’ve got the brash unpredictable running game of Luke Metcalf.
“The game has changed dramatically. Look at Jahrome Hughes and Cameron Munster. Everyone said it couldn’t work.
“Two running halves, not generals, not organisers. All of a sudden Jahrome Hughes becomes one of the elite halves in the game. I just think it works.”
Greg Alexander agreed Galvin is too good a player not to make a fist of the halfback position and make it his own.
“If we’re talking about Dylan Brown having the ability to run Newcastle, if we think he’s a smart enough player to get it, wrap his head around what a No.7 needs to do,” Alexander said.
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“I think Lachie Galvin fits that bill too, even though he hasn’t played in a halves as a No.7.
“I think he’s an intelligent enough player to know what to do and Mick’s right about the game changing.
“The game has changed. You don’t absolutely require a general, someone that says he’s a genuine No.7. But it’s not an absolute requirement you need.”
Ennis believes there are only a couple of halfback’s in the competition who run their whole team.
“Nathan Cleary, he runs Penrith. You’ve got Mitch Moses, he runs Parramatta,” Ennis said.
“But then you have got the other side of it where Melbourne, people talk about them being the heavyweight, and they’re two completely different styles of halves. It’ll be fascinating.”
