The rugby league world is divided on whether the Wests Tigers should “take a stand” and keep Lachlan Galvin or let the wantaway break his contract early.
Galvin has dominated headlines for over a week after dropping a bombshell in knocking back the Tigers’ $5 million contract extension offer.
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The 19-year-old dramatically claimed that Benji Marshall wasn’t the coach to take his game to the next level in a statement that was met with fierce blowback.
Galvin was axed as his teammates stood behind their coach and mocked the five-eighth on social media, which saw his management send the club a legal letter with accusations of bullying.
The NRL 360 panel debated on Tuesday night whether the club’s actions constituted bullying and whether they should keep their playmaker who is contracted until the end of next year.
“I’m hearing out of the Tigers today that they’re going to dig their heels in,” Braith Anasta said.
“If they’ve done nothing wrong then they have to see this through. If these claims of bullying… like you have to look at the definition of bullying,” Paul Crawley responded.
“The definition of bullying is repeated, using intimidation tactics to bring someone down and cause them distress.
“What we saw last week, that’s not the definition of bullying. These were one-off instances. It’s not bullying.”
Gorden Tallis echoed the sentiment and called on the entire game to throw their support behind the Tigers.
“Just because you don’t like a post, it doesn’t mean it’s bullying. Just because you don’t like someone’s actions, doesn’t mean it’s bullying,” Tallis said.
“I hope that every club and the NRL stand behind the Tigers here because our fans deserve it.”
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“But do the fans want him there? There’s a lot that don’t,” Anasta responded.
“If he goes out and plays really good this week, they will want him there and if he plays no good (they won’t),” Tallis said.
“That’s the judge, jury and executioner in rugby league – winning,” Crawley said.
But Dean Ritchie believes the club should part ways with Galvin.
“He’s got a contract and I’m all for contracts, we should all honour contracts, it’s one thing we don’t do well in rugby league. But, if he doesn’t want to be there. If the players don’t want him there, he’s suing the club for goodness sake,” Ritchie said.
“What is the point of keeping him there?” he said.
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“You watch that game on Monday and they could have won,” Anasta said.
“You watch it and see how frustrated the players were and you could see their season falling away on the back of this. Like this is a big drama, it’s exhausted a lot of energy.
“We talk about the Tigers and how far they’ve come and the promise they’ve shown in 2025 and you just don’t want it to crumble and that could happen.”
“Would they be a more harmonious club without all the media scrutiny and headlines if he left the club? The answer is yes,” Ritchie responded.
But Tallis hit back: “This club has been a punching bag for years, they’ve been at the bottom and if you don’t stand for anything, you’ll never stand for anything.”
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