‘Rattled’ Galvin’s twist after jeers; Broncos great’s warning on $5m Walsh —
All eyes were on Lachlan Galvin as he ran out in front of Tigers fans at Leichhardt Oval and he, and his teammates, delivered in a big way.
Meanwhile, Selwyn Cobbo was impressive at fullback for the Broncos while Wayne Bennett and the Rabbitohs have a selection headache on their hands.
The embattled Tigers put a fortnight from hell behind them with an epic golden point win over the Sharks on Sunday night that Matty Johns says should put the Lachlan Galvin saga to bed.
Galvin was dropped after knocking back the Tigers’ extension offer worth more than $5 million before his camp issued the club with a legal letter amid accusations of bullying.
The 19-year-old earned a recall against Cronulla and starred in his comeback match and told Fox League after the game that he just wanted to “do the team proud”.
Galvin was expected to receive a hostile welcome from his own fans at Leichhardt Oval but the Tigers faithful instead largely got behind their polarising five-eighth.
“I thought today he showed a lot of what he’s about, he was always going to get a bit of Bronx cheer early in the game but he set up a try early which would have eased his nerves,” Johns said.
“For club and player, you’d hope all this legal stuff can just drop away now.
“The Tigers are in a position to play finals football, they have to give up the self sabotaging and just get on with the football.
“If Galvin is there for the next 18 months, great. If he’s not, don’t worry about next year, just worry about the present.”
NRL premiership winner Bryan Fletcher echoed the sentiment and backed the Tigers to break their 14-year finals drought.
“The Lachie Galvin thing, nobody will talk about it anymore because that’s what winning does,” Fletcher said.
“For a 19-year-old kid and all the pressure he’s been under, hopefully the Wests Tigers now can see that they’re a chance of making the eight for the first time in a long time so I’m hoping that we can just get behind and hopefully the Tigers play semi-final football.”
Nathan Hindmarsh added: “I thought Galvin was great today, that try-saver on Hazelton under the sticks just before full-time was a pearler. It was good to see the Tigers get a win after all the s**t they’ve gone through and everything that’s been said about the club. They’d be relieved.”
Tigers teammate Adam Doueihi, who kicked the winning penalty goal in golden point, revealed the past fortnight had “rattled” Galvin.
“He was really good, he’s a kid that’s probably been a bit rattled over the past few weeks and I really do feel for him the way he’s been bombarded with the media and all the outside noise but inside our four walls we really do have high respect for the kid,” Doueihi said.
“I get on really well with him, he’s a really down to earth kid that just loves playing footy.
“You could see that tonight the way he came out and just owned the game and still put his plays on is a credit to the kid himself and I’m glad he was in our team today.”
COULD COBBO’S FULLBACK CAMEO CREATE GOOD HEADACHE FOR MADGE?
It’s no secret that the Broncos’ record isn’t flash without Reece Walsh, so they entered a clash with the unbeaten Bulldogs on Thursday night as clear outsiders.
In Walsh’s absence, and with his $5 million deal locked in until the end of 2029, Broncos coach Michael Maguire turned to Selwyn Cobbo to wear the No. 1 jersey.
Cobbo is coming off a down season in the centres with Maguire shifting the talented 22-year-old back out to the wing.
The switch has seen Cobbo return to some of his best form, which gave Maguire confidence he’d do a job at fullback.
He did more than that, setting up a try, running for 122 metres and recording three tackle busts during Brisbane’s upset win over the Dogs.
Fox League’s Michael Ennis says the move to fullback “unlocked” Cobbo.
“He’s been impressive tonight, the Brisbane fullback,” Ennis said.
“Stepping in for Reece Walsh, he’s been busy.
“He’s shown some great skill. His physicality to start the year, the way he’s returned the ball on the wing, after moving from the centre back out into that wing position has been great I think.
“He’s been in great form, but tonight at fullback, it’s really unlocked his movements.”
Importantly, Cobbo didn’t try to overplay his hand, making just the one error and not missing a tackle
That was the aspect which impressed Broncos legend Justin Hodges the most given Cobbo was replacing a completely different player in Walsh, who is one of the most exciting players in the NRL but is known for trying to do too much.
Hodges said Cobbo provided just what the Broncos need, implying he might be the better option at fullback over Walsh — who the Broncos are now heavily committed to, while Cobbo may walk to a rival club for the chance to play fullback and earn a bigger salary.
“I think that’s what they need. No disrespect to Reece, obviously we love the way he plays but sometimes he can be a little bit erratic and I don’t think we need it,” Hodges said on The Late Show with Matty Johns.
“We have so many dangerous players in the Broncos outfit and I think Selwyn just did his job tonight.
“He didn’t try and get too creative, he didn’t try and draw and pass he just took his medicine at times when he had to.
“When you have guys like Reynolds, Ben Hunt and obviously that forward pack, you just let them do the work and chime in when you need too.”