The highly debated question whether Lachlan Galvin is a six or seven is currently at its paramount.
With pressure rising in Belmore after a deflating loss to an injury-ravaged Brisbane Broncos outfit on Friday night, there are opposing calls from some prominent figures in the NRL on where his positional future lies.
Rugby league immortal Andrew Johns has made a bold claim, outlining that the Bulldogs should opt to debut young halfback Mitchell Woods, shifting Galvin into the five-eighth jersey to straighten their attack.
Woods is earmarked as the long-term chief playmaker in Belmore, and with Galvin's skill-set suiting him to a running style attack, Johns wants coach Cameron Ciraldo to make the change.
“I don't think Matt Burton is an out and out five-eighth. He's a running five eighth," Johns said on the Sunday Footy Show coverage.
“If you're going to have a big running five eighth, you need an on-ball halfback who does everything.
“We know Lachie Galvin. He's building his game. I see him more as a long term five eighth. He wants the ball, but he's still got to understand his game.
"He's got that thing where he's going to the right side where he's going to Jacob Preston, which I think he's going to too much with Preston.
"But he's still learning his game, and I still think he is an out-and-out five eighth moving forward.
“So where that puts Burton and where Mitch Woods is the young prodigy who they have got high hopes for.
"I don't know if he's fit to go. Mitch Woods I think they need to pull the trigger and put him in there.”
Bulldogs skipper Stephen Crichton has leapt to the defence of his young half, reminding everyone of the classy outing against the Panthers two weeks ago which saw him dominate the contest.
“The way he played against the Panthers, everyone was probably on his side saying he's the best halfback that week. Now, two weeks later, he probably hasn't performed the way he wanted to,” Crichton said.
“That's a reflection on the boys around him probably not helping him do his job as well.
“We definitely know that he is our halfback. The way he played against the Panthers is the way halfbacks should be playing.
“I feel like we're not helping him enough as players around him. We've just reviewed the way he played against the Panthers and he is capable of doing it.
“He's been playing what he's been learning at training. He's been getting criticised a lot lately for the way that our team's been performing.
“Ever since he's come to the club, I've always said that if you're not getting criticised, you're not doing your job right. I feel like he'll be learning off this and in a couple of years' time, or even now, he's learning these lessons.
“As a young 20-year-old, he's going to become a player – one of the greats – sooner or later. I feel like all the lessons that he's taking right now are pretty harsh, but it's going to build him up to be the player that he wants to be.”
