In the history of Olympic-class rugby league backflips it’s hard to go past Wests Tigers CEO Shane Richardson’s 180-degree U-turn on Lachlan Galvin’s contract situation.
For all the tough talk, the crocodile rolls and the support from rival NRL clubs saying don’t roll over under attack from player agent Isaac Moses the Tigers have folded.
Not only will Galvin be granted an early release from his current contract the rookie five-eighth could be out the door by as early as the end of this week.
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What happened to the Winston Churchill “We’ll fight them on the beaches” approach?
This was the Wests Tigers statement from six weeks ago:
“We would like to announce that Lachlan Galvin will not be with the club beyond the 2026 season.
“Despite the club having the largest contract offer for a junior in the history of the club on the table, Lachlan and his management have decided his future lies elsewhere and were not willing to review the offer.
“It should be noted that the club has no intention of releasing Lachlan from his contract, and he has not requested this.
“Obviously, there will be a lot of speculation around this release, but we will make no further comment.
“The club is focused on winning as many games as possible during Lachlan’s tenure and beyond.
“The club is disappointed, but we move on.”
Walsh defends controversial punch video | 01:03
Today the Tigers statement dated April 14 isn’t worth the paper it was written on.
Its members and fans again forced to watch on as a young gun local junior departs for a rival NRL club.
And once again controversial agent Isaac Moses emerges with the whip hand and another victory.
That’s two significant scalps in two weeks for Moses when you factor in the Channel Nine roll over with the network’s leading rugby league reporter kicked off a TV show last week.
There’s no question the Wests Tigers $6 million acquisition of Jarome Luai has had a major impact on Galvin’s desire to walk away.
That’s not a criticism of Jarome because he’s improved the Tigers out of sight but if you freeze it there prior to Luai’s arrival Galvin was the golden boy in the eyes of coach Benji Marshall.
Those days are now long gone. Which is a tough one for Benji to wear because off the back of three wooden spoons the Tigers had to get aggressive in the player market.
Signing Luai, Sunia Turuva and Terrell May has significantly improved the club’s on-field results.
But it’s also led to Galvin and his agent knocking back a $6 million deal and taking some significant bark off Marshall’s reputation in the process.
Amid the legal eagle threats of bullying and agent Moses continually applying pressure to be granted a release the Tigers have been forced to walk a road most figured was probably always on the cards.
Galvin will be gone and the club will try and justify it by claiming they’ve had a small win in the form of a $150,000 transfer fee.
The next issue for Richardson and the Tigers will be ensuring Luai remains at the club long-term.
Beyond that they’ve also got to try and convince the next young gun local junior Talyn Da Silva to stay given they’ve also signalled an intent to extend captain and hooker Api Koroisau beyond 2026.
Da Silva and Galvin are best mates having played junior football together including winning a Harold Matthews premiership with Wests Magpies in 2022.
It’s a delicate balancing act because Koroisau has consistently been the Wests Tigers best player since joining the club in 2023.
Just another day in paradise in Tiger Town.
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