Lachlan Galvin has described the last fortnight of his life as “difficult” and “tough” after the wantaway five-eighth made a triumphant return to Wests Tigers’ NRL side.
Galvin claimed he was undaunted by making his first grade comeback – after a six-day exile in NSW Cup – at a packed Leichhardt Oval as he starred in the Tigers’ 20-18 golden point win over Cronulla on Sunday.
There was talk the teenager, who informed the Tigers a fortnight ago he would not renew his contract beyond 2026, would be abused for declaring his intention to leave the reigning wooden spooners.
And while there was a banner denigrating the 19-year-old’s agent, Isaac Moses, on display at the antiquated ground, any lingering criticism of Galvin evaporated when he began to play.
After being mocked on social media by teammate Sunia Turuva and being dumped to reserve grade to play in front of a few hundred spectators at Lidcombe Oval last week, Galvin could have felt slightly sheepish making his NRL return.
But he showed the flashes of brilliance – Galvin set up two tries and denied Sharks man mountain Tom Hazleton a certain match winner just short of the tryline – which have left the Tigers upset that he won’t be a part of their club from 2027 onwards.
“I always want to be playing in the NRL, it’s the best,” Galvin said. “You run out in front of those fans and it’s amazing. The atmosphere is mad. Obviously I want to play NRL week-in, week-out and to get the win in front of them was amazing.”
It is hard to not feel some sympathy for the mercurial No 6, whose contract appears to have become the latest flashpoint on the battleground between Moses and Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson.
Galvin could have been forgiven for being emotionally drained after the last fortnight when his club future has dominated the NRL news cycle and his every training ground move was scrutinised.
“The best time of my life is the 80 minutes I play each week,” Galvin said. “That’s all I want to do – play NRL and play great footy – and that’s all I really focused on these last two weeks.
“It’s been pretty difficult but my focus has been getting to training each week and to keep working hard. I don’t really get nervous. I just go out excited to play.
“The media and all that, it gets tough, but at the end of the day I’m just focused on turning up to training, working hard and going out there for 80 minutes. That’s all I live for and all that I want to do with my life – play rugby league.”
Galvin’s return helped put the Tigers 4-4 heading into a Magic Round clash with St George Illawarra.
And even if he has developed a reputation for the eye-catching plays, Galvin is relishing the fact the Tigers are learning to tough it out.
“Our theme this year is trying to win ugly, and fight teams to the death,” Galvin said. “We have been doing that, and had a fair few close games where we have actually won a lot of them. It’s been really good.
“We have been working hard week-in, week-out and that’s our game model at the moment. We just want to grind teams out and get the win towards the end of the game.”
