Lachlan Galvin is set to accept a three-and-a-half year deal to join the Bulldogs immediately once an end to his tumultuous Wests Tigers career is signed off.
The 19-year-old’s release from the Tigers is expected to be fast-tracked after a $165,000 transfer fee was flagged by the joint-venture, a move which was promptly followed by meetings with Canterbury and Parramatta.
Sources speaking on the condition of anonymity as they did not have permission to discuss the contract have indicated that Galvin’s desire to play under Cameron Ciraldo and link with close friend and Bulldogs assistant Luke Vella will win out over an increased offer from the Eels.
An immediate move is now expected to be facilitated given Canterbury have the bye this week, and will potentially pit Galvin against Parramatta in their traditional King’s Birthday weekend clash on June 9.
The Bulldogs offer is believed to be worth around $750,000 a season, considerably less than the salary Wests Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson was willing to pay Galvin when he prepared a contract upgrade and extension worth close to $6 million over five years.
Canterbury have long maintained a strategy of only signing players who want to play for the club and Bulldogs boss Phil Gould originally dismissed any bid for Galvin, despite describing him last year as “the best teenage football I’ve ever seen”.
Galvin’s availability this season has changed the Bulldogs tune, with his arrival all but ending halfback Toby Sexton’s tenure at the end of this season.
Sexton has been in career-best touch in guiding Canterbury to the top of the ladder but remains off-contract.
Where Galvin fits into Ciraldo’s high-flying side in the short and long-term remains to be seen given Sexton’s combination with five-eighth Matt Burton.
Both Burton and Galvin are regarded as secondary playmakers best-suited to the No.6 role as well, while utility Bailey Hayward and lock Kurt Mann have been among the Bulldogs’ best players this year.
Eels coach Jason Ryles had publicly declared Galvin the ideal replacement for Newcastle-bound star Dylan Brown, while Parramatta captain Mitchell Moses was also in Galvin’s ear about playing in the halves alongside him.
The Tigers have ear-marked injured halfback Fainu Latu as Jarome Luai’s long-term halves partner and are hopeful Latu will return from a broken thumb on Saturday against the Cowboys.
