'Thought he was joking': Bulldogs star's hilarious reveal as Lachlan Galvin scores on debut

Lachlan Galvin set the Bulldogs crowd alight in his club debut, scoring a try in the second half after patiently waiting for an opportunity.

The 19-year-old sat on the bench for almost an hour before entering the fray against Parramatta as the hosts ran away with the game 30-12 in the second half.

But the story of the afternoon was Galvin, who only officially signed with the club a week ago and has already won over the Canterbury faithful.

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In the 73rd minute and the Dogs already well ahead of their long-time rivals, Galvin put the icing on the cake, backing up in support to crash over and score.

The reaction was a telling sign of how the club's fan base are feeling about his arrival.

"It has erupted here at Accor Stadium," Greg Alexander said on Fox League.

The cameras then cut to Cameron Ciraldo in the coach's box, who had a massive smile on his face and was celebrating as Galvin's new teammates swarmed him.

"Look at the reaction of Cameron Ciraldo," league great Cooper Cronk said.

"I've got to give this kid a huge rap - there was a lot of attention around the signing, coming here Accor and he sat on the bench for 60 minutes.

"He got his opportunity and just played football, he hasn't hesitated.

"The reaction from his teammates and the stadium here is nothing but positivity and this kid has made an impact."

The young gun's injection saw a reshuffle to Canterbury's spine, with Galvin slotting in at halfback, Toby Sexton playing hooker and Reed Mahoney leaving the field.

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Sexton admitted he was unaware of the plan from coach Ciraldo.

"I've got no idea," he told Fox League post-game.

"He came on and said 'play hooker' and I thought he was joking for a second.

"I'm not too sure, but at the end of the day, whatever my role in the team is, the coach will decide that and I've just got to play to the best of my ability.

"They are good headaches for the coach to have."

Ciraldo was giving nothing away when asked about the plans for Galvin in his press conference, but did hint that he would likely spend most him time in the halves.

"We had a couple of plans, but that wasn't plan A - I can't tell you [what it was]," he said.

"It has been a really hard week to get his head around everything. When I named the team, he wasn't in the team and I thought he would play NSW Cup.

"Every training session he did, he got better and he understood our systems better and by the end of the week, it was clear we needed to have him.

"He plays in the halves, that's his preferred position. He's predominantly a half and he did a great job tonight, but the learning is not over.

"Today was a great start for him and we're really proud of him."

Galvin himself admitted it was a strange experience to be sitting on the bench for a large majority of the contest - especially in the weather conditions at Homebush - as he spoke candidly about receiving so much adulation from the club and fans.

"It was quite weird - it was freezing and raining, I had the jumper on and was trying to get Ciro's attention to get me on faster," he told Fox League.

"I just want to play footy and I was smiling out there and enjoying it today.

"The fans got right behind us and it was pretty cool. The support they showed throughout the whole game and walking here was quite unreal.

"As you could see when I scored, they jumped all over me. They [teammates] have been so supportive and they've got behind me and I've loved every minute of it. 

"The club is building something really special here and I love being a part of it." 

Galvin will get another opportunity to impress next weekend and will likely wear the No.6 jumper with Matt Burton unavailable due to State of Origin commitments.