{"id":827579,"date":"2026-07-27T19:49:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T19:49:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/827579\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T19:49:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T19:49:03","slug":"how-horse-muck-helps-nrl-wonderkid-stay-blinkered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/827579\/","title":{"rendered":"How horse muck helps NRL wonderkid stay blinkered"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lachlan Galvin’s ability to tune out from his unintended role as a protagonist in an NRL culture war lies in his use of a shovel and a stable full of horse manure.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Galvin has been shielded from the media spotlight for the best part of a year since his divisive exit from Wests Tigers led to him landing at Canterbury.<\/p>\n

But he gave his first lengthy interview in more than 12 months after Saturday’s win over the Warriors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NRL\"<\/p>\n

Lachlan Galvin of the Bulldogs has had a leading hand in many of their tries this season. (Mark Evans\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

Questions surrounding the 21-year-old’s ability to be a halfback for the Bulldogs, the flow-on effect of his arrival at Belmore from the Tigers, and Canterbury’s struggles in attack through 2026 have made Galvin a lightning rod for criticism.<\/p>\n

At times it has felt like every Bulldogs win or loss has been a referendum on Galvin’s ability, but coach Cameron Ciraldo has backed the youngster to the hilt and appears to be reaping the rewards.<\/p>\n

Canterbury are on the cusp of the top eight with five wins from their past six games.<\/p>\n

And while his performances have generated talking points for newspaper columns, radio debates and TV panel shows, Galvin has been blocking it out by literally shovelling shit.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Jason<\/p>\n

Lachlan Galvin relaxes by mucking out at the stables of trainer Jason Coyle (centre) (Rafal Kontrym\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

“I love my horses, race horses, I’ve got a couple of race horses now,” Galvin said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I’m into the stables with (trainer) Jason Coyle (at Warwick Farm) and doing a bit of work there, feeding them, picking up their crap, and saddling them up – that’s my getaway.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“That gets me away from footy, away from the noise. It’s my kind of little bubble by itself with Jason and a couple of family members.”<\/p>\n

Galvin said his parents have found it particularly hard to digest his progression from teen wonder to public punching bag over the past 12 months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"NRL\"<\/p>\n

Lachlan Galvin’s form and talent even led to him being called in to train with the NSW Origin side. (AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

“I think it’s natural that any parent is going to hate when people are talking about their kid,” he said.<\/p>\n

He also conceded his development into a game-managing halfback was a work in progress.<\/p>\n

Andrew Johns questioned the wisdom of Ciraldo putting the No.7 on Galvin’s back earlier this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But Galvin appears to be showing signs of adapting to the role alongside new halves partner Stephen Crichton as the Dogs target a late charge into the top eight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Lachlan<\/p>\n

Lachlan Galvin clashes with Jahream Bula in their round-20 game – a 32-0 win for the Bulldogs. (Dan Himbrechts\/AAP PHOTOS)<\/p>\n

“I think that’s something I’m obviously learning from ‘Ciro’ and all the coaching stuff,” Galvin said.<\/p>\n

“I’ve got ‘Critta’ out there, Bailey (Hayward) at dummy half and Jaeman (Salmon) at lock.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I’ve got a lot of help out there and it’s not just me doing it by myself.<\/p>\n

“I think that’s why we’re playing so well at the moment. It’s a team collective \u2026 winning helps everything.” \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lachlan Galvin’s ability to tune out from his unintended role as a protagonist in an NRL culture war…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":827580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,4026,4617,761,762,158,85,4515],"class_list":["post-827579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bulldogs","tag-lachlan-galvin","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports","tag-wests-tigers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827579","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=827579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/827580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=827579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=827579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}