Galvin ‘laughed off’ Tigers boos as Dogs injury toll deepens
Lachlan Galvin copped an expected hammering from Wests Tigers fans on the weekend - but one of his Bulldogs teammates doesn’t think it left a mark.
The young gun was booed relentlessly by Tigers supporters during Canterbury’s 22-16 defeat on Saturday evening, just one year after walking out on the club.
Lachlan Galvin reacts during Canterbury's loss to the Tigers. Getty
Galvin has become a polarising figure in the NRL due to the way he left the joint venture and many have placed him - rightly or wrongly - at the forefront of the Bulldogs’ downfall and string of poor results over the past 12 months.
However, according to injured forward Jacob Preston, the visceral reaction from rival fans won’t be playing on the 20-year-old’s mind.
“He would have just laughed it off,” Preston told media on Monday.
“He just loves playing footy, he’s very easy-going Galvo and I don’t think it would have affected him at all.
“He’s going after it every week and continues to get better every week. He keeps going after it at training, and you see it on the field, he’s a competitor.”
Viliame Kikau sympathised with the pressure on Galvin, who has been tasked with wearing the No.7 jumper for one of the biggest clubs in the NRL.
“He’s a very young bloke, still learning the game - he’s been put in a position at halfback where you steer the ship around,” the Fijian international said.
Galvin has been the least of Canterbury’s worries this season. In his 12 matches, the halfback has scored five tries and set up another six, while forcing 15 line dropouts and averaging 115 run metres per game.
One of the main issues, however, is the mounting injury toll at Belmore.
Preston and Kikau are both sidelined, while uncapped halfback Mitchell Woods is yet to play a game all year due to ongoing hamstring injuries.
They could be joined in the casualty ward by captain Stephen Crichton, who is now in doubt with a recurrence of his shoulder injury.
Crichton could miss Canterbury’s traditional long weekend clash with the Parramatta Eels next week, which would also place him in doubt to line up for the NSW Blues in the second State of Origin game on June 17.
“He’s been struggling with it,” Phil Gould said on Nine’s 100% Footy.
“He’s played two games in a week and pulled up very sore from it. I think they’ll still name him tomorrow and would be in doubt for the Parramatta game.
“I think he’d be right for Origin in game two if they picked him.”
Stephen Crichton is under an injury cloud. Getty
With things not going to plan, Kikau said the Dogs needed to remain focused on the task at hand - starting with the Eels.
“You face adversity and challenges and obviously one of them is injuries,” he said.
“We’ve been copping that a bit, a couple of starters are sitting on the sideline.
“But once you start trying to think too far ahead and lose focus on week-to-week … I think you lose focus on the whole thing.”
Canterbury remain in 14th spot on the ladder, three wins outside the top-eight.
