{"id":665929,"date":"2026-05-12T11:55:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:55:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/665929\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T11:55:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:55:13","slug":"bulldogs-dragons-interested-in-luke-metcalf-what-it-means-for-matt-burton-and-lachlan-galvin-phil-gould-nrl360-rugby-league-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/665929\/","title":{"rendered":"Bulldogs, Dragons interested in Luke Metcalf, what it means for Matt Burton and Lachlan Galvin, Phil Gould, NRL360, rugby league news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke Metcalf is all but certain to leave the Warriors at season\u2019s end<\/a>, and two clubs have emerged as the early favourites for the gun playmaker\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n

Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Bulldogs and Dragons are said to be interested in Metcalf, who has been given permission by the Warriors to test the market in the wake of the club\u2019s re-signing of the resurgent Tanah Boyd.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Metcalf wants to play seven but it seems he won\u2019t be able to do that at the Warriors anymore with Boyd at the club.<\/p>\n

Several teams around the league<\/a> do need a halfback though. <\/p>\n

The Dragons are one such club and they\u2019re expected to make a play at Metcalf.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re interested. I can confirm that,\u201d The Daily Telegraph\u2019s David Riccio reported.<\/p>\n

Another is the Bulldogs, who after a tough start to the season, are still facing questions about their halves and whether Lachlan Galvin is the long-term solution at seven.<\/p>\n

Given the Bulldogs\u2019 stature as a club and the pulling power of GM Phil Gould, Riccio believes the Dogs are the current favourites to land Metcalf.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe they are genuinely interested. Are they are genuine chance? I\u2019d have them as the favourites at the moment,\u201d Riccio said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the beauty of Phil Gould. This is why Phil Gould is so important for Cameron Ciraldo. He can do all the wheeling and dealing in the background.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is A1 Gus. Go and get Metcalf and tap the heads along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Hunt’s best footy was never at 7’ | 02:10<\/p>\n

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NRL360 host Braith Anasta then referenced Galvin when he replied with: \u201cbut they have a halfback\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo they haven\u2019t,\u201d foxsports.com.au\u2019s Paul Crawley replied.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey need one to reach their potential with this current roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crawley then stated that if the Bulldogs manage to land Metcalf, that would lead to \u201cother problems\u201d at the club, notably what to do with five-eighth Matt Burton.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Galvin moves to six, does Burton go to the centres and can the Dogs afford to carry Metcalf\u2019s $800k on top of Burton\u2019s $800k,\u201d Crawley said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s highly likely if Metcalf (leaves Warriors), if the Dogs are an option, he\u2019ll go there.\u201d <\/p>\n

Burton\u2019s form has been plain at best this season.<\/p>\n

There have been flashes, but in a team down on form, Burton\u2019s play has suffered.<\/p>\n

It led Crawley to opine that if he was partnered with a genuine halfback, he\u2019d be among the better five-eighths in the comp.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he was playing with a genuine seven, we\u2019d be seeing the best of Matt Burton and at this stage, what we\u2019ve seen from Galvin so far and what we know Burton has the potential to do, I would say Burton is still a better six from what I\u2019ve seen from Galvin.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis best football is better than where Galvin is at at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matt Burton could be on the outer at the Dogs if the club makes a serious bid for Luke Metcalf.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n

Back to Metcalf, based on the frosty press release the club put out today<\/a> and the fact he wasn\u2019t named in the squad to face Brisbane <\/a>at Magic Round, the playmaker\u2019s relationship with the Warriors appears rocky at best.<\/p>\n

Despite this, the Warriors aren\u2019t yet prepared to let Metcalf leave midway through this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy conversations today suggest it\u2019s highly unlikely. If you put yourselves in the shoes of the Warriors, they firmly believe they can win a premiership this year,\u201d Riccio said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s not in the top 22 of the NRL squad nor is he listed in NSW Cup. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy enqiries suggest that it\u2019s a case of Luke, go sort your future out. This is a big decision, sort it out. <\/p>\n

\u201cI reckon personally that the Warriors are thinking, \u2018what if he gets injured while he\u2019s in this phase of negotiations\u2019. Does that impact Luke\u2019s potential future but also too, it could leave the club rehabbing a player that doesn\u2019t want to be there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luke Metcalf is all but certain to leave the Warriors at season\u2019s end, and two clubs have emerged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665930,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,7618,11096,30088,130924,4617,321563,33215,10747,13217,761,762,158,11396,24821,85,5501],"class_list":["post-665929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cameron-ciraldo","tag-daniel-nuttall","tag-david-riccio","tag-gun-playmaker","tag-lachlan-galvin","tag-long-term-solution","tag-lord-gould-of-brookwood","tag-luke-metcalf","tag-matt-burton","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-paul-crawley","tag-pulling-power","tag-sports","tag-tough-start"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665929"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665929\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665930"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}