The Canterbury Bulldogs have entered the 'Lachlan Galvin Era' in style, but while all eyes were on the former Tiger, it was the incumbent five-eighth who stole the show.
In his first match in new colours, Lachlan Galvin was pushed immediately into the halfback role, which saw Toby Sexton move to dummy-half and Reed Mahoney to the interchange bench.
Although he nearly had to wait 60 minutes to enter the clash, Galvin was greeted by chants and celebrations from the Bulldogs' almost 60,000 fans and had a solid showing, which included a try in the final five minutes.
In the limited minutes he had, Galvin took complete control of the match when he entered the field, had one line-break, and provided a great combination with Matt Burton, culminating in a four-pointer.
One of the club's best-performing players this season, Burton, resumed his fine form in the Bulldogs jersey as he continues to knock at the door to be selected in the line-up for the NSW Blues.
Likely to be named 18th man again for Game 2 of the 2025 State of Origin series in Perth, the playmaker was crucial on both ends of the field as he guided the Bulldogs to a 30-12 victory over the Eels.
Opening up the scoring with a brilliantly read intercept off the scrum feed, Burton ended the match with one try, one try assists off a great read on the short side, two line-break assists, 161 running metres and some crucial tackles down the edge.
As the Bulldogs remain on top of the NRL ladder, the annual King's Birthday clash didn't come without controversy.
Less than 24 hours after Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall took aim at match officials for a perceived late tackle on the kicker, the same type of decision happened again, but this time it saw Viliame Kikau sent to the sin-bin.
Although legal, the decision was somewhat controversial, considering Kikau barely placed a hand on Mitchell Moses and the halfback tried to fake the level of impact that he had sustained from the Fijian international.
Whilst Dylan Walker ended up scoring as the Bulldogs were down to 12 men, it didn't have a lasting impact on the scoresheet, with Kikau, Harry Hayes and Marcelo Montoya all crossing for tries.
Although they will receive Jacob Preston back from suspension, the Bulldogs will be sweating on the availability of Daniel Suluka-Fifita, who was placed on report for an alleged shoulder charge.
All Eyes on Galvin
Entering with 23 minutes left to go, Galvin was greeted on the field by 'Galvin' chants from the Bulldogs faithful and was celebrated as soon as he stood up to enter the match.
Coming on for Reed Mahoney - which pushed Toby Sexton to hooker - Galvin looked at home in the Bulldogs jersey and is likely to be eased into the starting line-up in the coming weeks as he continues to get familiar with the team's style of play.
To make matters even more spectacular, he was able to score a try, putting to bed a controversial past couple of months.
Intercept City
If someone were to predict how the opening two tries were scored, I can guarantee you they wouldn't have said via intercepts.
To open the scoreline, Matt Burton ran over 50 metres after taking a one-of-a-kind-intercept. Standing at the scrum feed, he was able to predict a Ryley Smith pass before it went to the first receiver.
Not to be outdone by his NSW Blues squad member, Mitchell Moses ran 100 metres after Zac Lomax took an intercept which could have easily ended in a Bulldogs try on the left edge.
