Canterbury have long maintained a strategy of signing only players who want to play for the club. Gould originally dismissed the chances of his club signing Galvin when his exit from the Tigers was first raised, despite describing him last year as “the best teenage footballer I’ve ever seen”.

Galvin’s unexpected availability this season prompted a change of mind by the Bulldogs. His impending arrival all but signals the end of halfback Toby Sexton’s time at the club and raises the prospect of further roster upheaval at the ladder leaders.

“When [Galvin] first told the West Tigers he wasn’t going to play in 2027, he was still contracted until the end of 2026,” Gould said.

“Even if we wanted to sign him for 2027, we couldn’t negotiate until the 1st of November this year. That’s 18 months to hang around wondering whether or not you’ve got a player. So that didn’t suit our timeframe. I said we would stick to the program that we’ve got.

“What happened this week is the goalpost got moved incredibly, because all of a sudden we got a call on Tuesday from [his] manager [Isaac Moses] to say that there was a chance they were negotiating a release with the Tigers and he would be available virtually now.”

The Bulldogs are hopeful of a deal being finalised this week, but where Galvin fits into Ciraldo’s high-flying side in the short and long term remains to be seen given Sexton’s combination with five-eighth Matt Burton.

Burton and Galvin are both regarded as secondary playmakers best suited to the five-eighth role, while utility Bailey Hayward and lock Kurt Mann have been among the Bulldogs’ best players this year.

Canterbury have high hopes for their 19-year-old prodigy Mitch Woods and see him a potential long-term No.7. Gould denied Galvin’s arrival has caused any angst from Woods about his path to the NRL, while Immortal Andrew Johns cautioned against trying to mould Galvin into a game-managing playmaker.

“I don’t see Galvin as a halfback, not at all,” Johns said on The Sunday Footy Show. “He’s a five-eighth and eventually he could develop into a ball-playing lock. I don’t see him as a halfback steering the team around.”

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Eels coach Jason Ryles had publicly declared Galvin the ideal replacement for Newcastle-bound star Dylan Brown, while Parramatta captain Mitchell Moses was also in Galvin’s ear about playing in the halves alongside him.

The Eels will remain key players in a sparse halves market given Brown’s seven-figure salary will be freed up by his Knights move on the biggest contract in NRL history.

With Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans expected to join the Roosters next season, in-form five-eighth Sandon Smith may consider his options despite being contracted until the end of 2026, while Sexton also remains on the market.

The Tigers have ear-marked injured halfback Latu Fainu as Jarome Luai’s long-term halves partner and hope Fainu will return from a broken thumb on Saturday against the Cowboys.

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