Ciraldo said the Bulldogs’ preference was to promote their juniors, despite tensions between Galvin’s camp and the Tigers continuing to escalate.

“At the moment we’ve got our plan, and we’re sticking to that, and it’s been working really well for us,” Ciraldo said.

“The guys in those positions [halves] at the moment are doing a great job, and we’ve got a pathways’ system that we’ve put a lot of time and effort into, and that’s reaping some rewards as well. So, we’ll stick to what we’re doing and let everyone else worry about other stuff.”

Galvin’s relationship with the Tigers has deteriorated after he knocked back their $5.5 million, six-year extension offer.

Ciraldo echoed Gould’s comment that the club “won’t be involved in the Lachlan Galvin discussion”, and said there was no point entertaining the idea as long as he’s contracted to another club for the next 18 months.

“When there’s good players that come on the market, you’ve always got to have those conversations and look at what’s best for the club and make decisions in the best interest of the club,” Ciraldo said.

“But, we can’t talk to him for another seven months anyway, and just I thought Gus shut down all the speculation, and we’ll get on with what we’re doing.”

It’s the second time in two months the top-of-the-ladder club have pulled out of the race for a star half, after they decided not to pursue Daly Cherry-Evans for the 2026 season. Instead, the club have opened negotiations to extend the deal of No.7 Toby Sexton.

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“Toby’s done a good job, the big parts of his game he’s done really well, but there’s some areas in his game that we want to see him improve as well,” Ciraldo said.

“And he’s really well aware of that, and I think he’s just handled this whole period really well as a character, same as what he did last year when he wasn’t in the team.”

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