Bulldogs in hot water with NRL over Galvin’s premature arrival as Tigers caught off guard

The Bulldogs reportedly could be in hot water with the NRL after Lachlan Galvin was captured training at Belmore before his official release from his Tigers contract.

FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every game of every round in the 2025 NRL Telstra Premiership, LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited-time offer.

The Daily Telegraph reported the NRL have contacted the Bulldogs for a please explain after the Tigers were caught off guard by Galvin’s premature arrival at training for his new team.

Galvin had yet to be formally released by the Tigers, which could land Canterbury in hot water with the NRL.

Under NRL rules, players are unable to train with a rival team while still contracted with another club.

The Dragons received a $40,000 suspended fine for allowing Ronald Volkman to train with the team despite not having a formal contract with the club.

The Bulldogs are yet to confirm it, but Lachlan Galvin’s move to Belmore is all but sealed after one punter snapped a video of the former Tigers playmaker training in blue and white.

The video, which was posted by X user @BecharaRob on Friday, showed Galvin standing on the field at Belmore Sports Ground with a Bulldogs top on.

Galvin has reportedly agreed to sign with the Bulldogs on a salary that averages out to $750,000 per season, with the 19-year-old to remain at the club until the end of 2028.

While his deal is yet to be formally announced by the club, the Bulldogs were expected to wait until at least after the State of Origin series opener to make it official.

Code Sports reported that Galvin’s release from his current Tigers contract hinges on a non-disparagement clause being included, which legally stops him from talking about his exit.

The Bulldogs were said to be on board with that stipulation along with the $175,000 release fee needed to secure his services for this season.

It is not the first time the Bulldogs have had key signing news spoiled, with a photo of second rower Viliame Kikau in team colours alongside former coach Trent Barrett and general manager Phil Gould leaked onto social media in 2021.

There had been speculation at the time that Kikau was Belmore-bound, however before the club or Fiji international had a chance to even announce the deal publicly, a grainy photo taken off a security camera found its way onto social media.

“You can’t get away with anything these days. It was pretty disappointing. I was really disappointed about it actually,” Kikau told the Sydney Morning Herald at the time.

It was later revealed that a Canterbury League Club employee was the culprit behind the photo.

Meanwhile, Tigers coach Benji Marshall fronted media on Friday for the first time since Galvin’s move to the Bulldogs was widely reported, telling journalists he has “noticed a real lift in energy” among his playing group.

“Obviously, (we’ve) got a few guys coming in that haven’t played, guys like Heath who’ve brought a lot of energy to the team and then with our leaders they’ve been driving a really good preparation coming off the back of a bye,” Marshall said.

“We had a good reflection of where we went good and where we can improve in the first half of the season and we’re looking to put those into place this weekend.”

The Galvin saga has dominated headlines for over a month now, with Marshall admitting everyone is “probably a little bit sick of talking about it”.

When asked if he was disappointed to be losing the five-eighth, Marshall replied: “I don’t know if disappointment’s the word”.

“Look, at the same time we like our players we’ve got, we love the squad we’ve got,” he added.

“We’re excited about some of the young players we’ve got coming through and for us, we want to try and make a mark on competition this year and with the squad we’ve got, we’re confident we can do that but we’ve got to put it together this weekend.”