Dogs Unleash Galvin's Running Game

Lachlan Galvin lived up to the claims that he is the NRL's fittest player in Vegas and Matt Burton believes the game’s biggest halves pairing is only going to get better.

After making a mid-season move to Canterbury in 2025, Galvin spent the pre-season building his combination with Burton and the pair used their size and athleticism to constantly threaten the defence in Sunday’s 15-14 opening round defeat of the Dragons.

While captain Stephen Crichton won the accolades for his golden point field goal with just six seconds of extra time on the clock, Galvin ran the ball 22 times at halfback, making 190m, while producing a try assist for Jacob Preston and two line-break assists.

In addition, he was forced to make 35 tackles as the Dragons forwards targeted him in defence.

Burton, whose 14 kicks included five bombs for Dragons fullback Clint Gutherson and rookie winger Setu Tu, also ran the ball 15 times for 156m and made four tackle breaks.

“When Lachie is running the ball, and all our spine is taking the line on, we’re dangerous,” Burton said.

“I think now we’ve got more time together, it’s only the start. I feel like when we get back, and we work on our combination a bit more, we’re going to be dangerous.”

Galvin has blown team-mates away during pre-season training with his fitness levels, as well as his football IQ for a player barely out of his teens.

Origin forwards Kurt Mann and Max King said he may be the fittest player they have seen after setting a club record of 4:14m for the 1.2km Bronco run - known as “cattledog” at Belmore - that most NRL teams use to measure endurance and fitness.

“It is the fastest time I have seen in my 14-year career in the NRL so he might be up there for the NRL record too,” said Mann, who has played for the Storm, Dragons, Knights and Bulldogs.

King, who began his NRL career with the Storm before joining the Bulldogs, said: “He is the fittest bloke I have ever seen on the football field. He is absolutely flying, and when it comes to conditioning games and fitness testing, he is killing it”.

Importantly, Galvin has also impressed with his skills and ability to read a game.

The recently turned 20-year-old and Burton, a premiership winning State of Origin and Test representative, are set to form one of the biggest halves pairing in the game’s history.

“I guess it is just the way the game is going, it is getting faster and you need halves running the ball more, so to have me and him running the ball is pretty dangerous,” said Burton, who stands at 190cm tall and weighs 96kg.

“Lachie is nearly taller than me and he is still growing. He has bulked up a little bit, and he is going after defence more, so that is definitely going to help him.”

With Galvin given the No.7 jersey after the departure of Perth Bears-bound Toby Sexton and Bailey Hayward taking over the duties from Reed Mahoney, who has joined the Cowboys, the Canterbury spine is now more settled this season.  

“Lachie was obviously thrown in there last year and we did have a lot of swapping and changing so it is good that we have been able to get a lot of reps together in the pre-season and build that combination a bit more,” Burton said.

The Bulldogs led the NRL Telstra Premiership ladder for most of last season but fell away in the run to the finals and bowed out of play-offs with successive losses.

However, under coach Cameron Ciraldo they have been gradually building a team capable of winning the premiership, with the addition of Burton, strike secondrower Viliame Kikau,  Crichton and injured Kiwis enforcer Leo Thompson.

The belief is that Galvin may be the final piece in the puzzle for Canterbury.

"I think coming mid-year for anyone is never easy, let alone a halfback who is only 19-years old and is given the keys to steer the ship,” King said.

“It is another year in his development, and it has been great for everyone the way we have been training and gelling as a side.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day, and Lachie is still only 20-years old, but it is just looks a lot more fluent and a lot better, so it is exciting for us.”