Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall has refused to justify his decision to recall Lachlan Galvin a week after dropping him, declaring: “Why would I care what people say?”
Galvin, who is back in the first-grade fold for Sunday’s clash with the Sharks, was dropped to feeder team Western Suburbs Magpies in the previous round after turning down a contract extension.
Four of his teammates fronted the media on Friday to declare there was no tension in the camp, despite Galvin’s minders serving the club with a legal letter claiming he had been bullied. The interplay between the 19-year-old and his senior teammates – Jarome Luai and Sunia Turuva made social media posts seemingly critical of his actions – will make for fascinating viewing at the club’s first game of the year at Leichhardt.
Not that Marshall was buying into it during his pre-game press conference on Saturday morning. The former Kiwi international tried to deflect a series of questions about Galvin’s return.
“I’m sick of talking about that,” Marshall said. “I said it every week … I’ll pick the team that I think’s best. So we’ve moved on. Focusing on the game this week. We’ve just got to get the win.”
Reminded that the circumstances were different due to the Galvin circus, Marshall said: “It’s not. It doesn’t matter.
The spotlight will be on Lachlan Galvin at Leichhardt Oval.Credit: Louie Douvis
“Everyone wants to know why I picked the team; you don’t need to know why. I picked the team that I think is best for us this week, and we’ll go with that … We’ve made a real effort to just move on and focus on what we can control now, and that’s playing footy.
“Yeah, no doubt last week was a big week for everyone. Just move on and get on with our footy and Leichhardt Oval, Anzac Day, big round, Alex [Twal’s] 150th game. There’s a lot for us to celebrate this week.”
Galvin’s mother, Tracey, won’t attend the match, concerned about the reception her son will get from fans when he runs out against the Sharks. Several of his teammates conceded the club’s long-suffering supporters could vent their frustrations at his decision to leave at the end of 2026. Marshall hoped the reception would be a warm one.
“Pretty positive, I’d say,” Marshall said when asked how the fans would respond. “The dust settled a bit since last week, so we’ll just get behind him.
“He’s in our team. We’re expecting him to do the usual thing and play the way he plays and that’s what we want from him. If he sets up a try early or scores one, that’ll help.”
While the media scrutiny on Galvin has been intense, those close to him insist he remains relatively unaffected.
“I think he’s handled it incredibly well, given his age, 19 years old, to go through all this stuff and be so public with everything,” Marshall said.
“It’s quite hectic for him, but he handled it really well, went back to reserve grade last week, put in a really good performance, tried really hard, had a really good attitude.
“We want him to do that for us [on Sunday].”
Galvin will reunite in the halves with Luai, after he and Adam Doueihi were completely outplayed last week by returning Parramatta halfback Mitchell Moses.
“We’re excited. Obviously, combination wise with the spine, that will be good this week,” Marshall said. “We just want him [Galvin] to play his natural game, as we do for everyone else.
“Last week, with all the distractions and the ups and downs of what happened, everyone can just chill now and just play.”
Pressed on the decision to recall Galvin after one game, Marshall replied: “Why would I care what people say?”
Michael Chammas and Andrew “Joey” Johns dissect the upcoming NRL round, plus the latest footy news, results and analysis. Sign up for the Sin Bin newsletter.
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