A future superstar of the game, Lachlan Galvin, will make his highly-anticipated NRL debut this week for the Wests Tigers after being handed the reigns by Benji Marshall to start in the halves.
Marshall's call to name him in the starting team over veteran Aidan Sezer, playing alongside recruit Jayden Sullivan in the halves, was the biggest bombshell selection on Tuesday when team lists dropped.
Failing to reach the finals in over a decade, the Wests Tigers have entirely revamped their halves as they look to begin their 2024 campaign with an away victory over the Canberra Raiders
Aiming to emulate the success of the 2005 season, Galvin, 18, has earned the backing of three-star teammates to impress in his maiden NRL game on Saturday afternoon.
"He's just a natural footballer. He's a gun," Galvin's captain Apisai Koroisau said at a press conference on Wednesday.
"What's the old adage? If they're good enough, they're old enough. All the boys have all the confidence in him and he's been showing that each and every day.
"He's got a great running game. He's quite a tall kid, but moves really well and quite silky."
"I'm just going to go out there and do my job because I'm comfortable he's going to go out there and kill it," prop Stefano Utoikamanu added.
"He's someone who's going to work hard for us. He's young but he's shown that he's pretty confident and he's comfortable telling everyone where to go."
"He beat everyone by a country mile in in all sorts of runs. I've never seen anything like it," fellow forward David Klemmer continued.
"It's a credit to him. He could have come in here and dipped his toe in and used the excuse that he's a young bloke, but he's come here and taken it head on.
"He's trying to beat you and he's a tough kid as well."
After being told by the Parramatta Eels that he was no longer required at the club, Galvin came through the Tigers pathways system and has turned into an Australian Schoolboy representative and one of the best young players yet to make their debut.
Contracted until the end of the 2026 season, he provided four try assists on his way to being awarded the Peter Sterling Medal last year as he guided his school, Westfields Sports High School, to a National Schoolboys Cup victory, defeating Palm Beach Currumbin 38-4 in the final.
After starting his junior career with the Eels, it became apparent that there was no room for him at the club, so he decided to move to the Tigers. However, in doing so, the club would need to pay a development fee of up to $5000.
Speaking to his father, James Galvin, and recruitment manager, Shannon Gallant, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Galvin Snr offered to pay half of the $5000 transfer fee to help cover the cost.
“I was more than happy to oblige,” Gallant said via the Herald.
“There were talks of potential development fees, but the club was more than happy to pay to get one of its good kids home.
“When I rang Wayne [Lambkin] to ask about him, I didn't even get to finish his name. He said, ‘Do whatever you can to get him'.”
