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The Tough Carry: Loving the little things Lachlan is doing
Tackle 1 is often the toughest carry of the set. It can make or break it. Here, it’s my biggest talking point from the round that was.
Benji Marshall set the table for Lachlan Galvin to start the season in the halves
way back in February.
“I don’t care how old you are, how experienced you are, if you earn it through the pre-season you’ll more than likely play.”
He didn’t name Galvin specifically, but unlike most coaches who trot that line out during an NRL preseason, Marshall acted on it. He threw the 18-year-old out there and he’s not looked out of place in his first fortnight as a first grader.
At only 18-years-old, Galvin still has a lot to learn. He got a little bit too excited on 3rd tackle on Saturday night and kicked it dead. His last tackle options, in general, require some work as has grows more accustomed to the speed of the game and begins to process what is in front of him faster.
I’m often loathed to heap
too much praise onto a young player. Building up expectations too soon sets young players up to fail in the eyes of the general NRL public. We see it all of the time. But like Isaiya Katoa last year, it’s in the little details that we can be confident of a relatively speedy development process.
Nathan Cleary has spoken himself about how ballplaying isn’t something that comes naturally to him. He’s had to work on it throughout his NRL career and continues to do so as a player who plays his best footy with a run-first approach.
Galvin is a big body and has huge potential as a ball runner, but he seems to have picked up his role in the halves naturally. While he might not always execute, it looks as though he knows
what he wants to do. He reads cues well and makes simple, smart plays.
In ‘keeping it simple’ halves can fall in love with simply shovelling the ball on and playing more risk-free than simple. This is a nice play here, though.
The
simple option here is to tip the pass onto Justin Olam and clock off. The
smart play is to spot the third man late out of the tackle, take the easy metres as the defender moves slowly off his line, and generate a quick play-the-ball that ultimately leaves Aidan Sezer with plenty of time to kick it on the last.
Not long after, Galvin was the one doing the kicking. Again after reading what is in front of him and adjusting on the run.
Galvin sweeps into action with Sezer caught in the tackle. He orders the right edge kick chase and demands the ball before putting up an excellent kick into the opposition corner.
It’s simple, but most of all, he’s displaying his smarts.
The speed of the game has tripped him up a handful of times, but Galvin has adjust well at others. The Tigers like to tip the ball on out of yardage. Galvin will take the ball one-off the ruck and play a short pass to a strong ball-carrier to cart it up the middle.
Having done so a few times already in the first 18 minutes, Galvin adjusted to the defence, held the ball, and put Olam through the line here.
More simple and smart footy from the youngster.
Galvin hasn’t piled up the counting stats that typically fuel a rookies hype train. He’s yet to score a try, doesn’t break a lot of tackles, and has an error in him. But that’s not what I’m looking for in a rookie half. It’s actions like this…
Api Koroisau and the Tigers middle do well to create the advantage out wide. By the time the ball gets to Galvin, the four-man in the defensive line is struggling to keep up. Presented with a juicy look on the edge, the young half executes to perfection.
He straighens his run to sit the three-man while using a lead runner to hold up the defender two in. Getting deep into the line before passing, he fires the ball into the chest of Jahream Bula who is too quick, big and strong for a scrambling Sharks defensive line.
Development isn’t linear in the NRL. The halves, in particular, are positions that take more time and experience to master than most. But where we have seen young players rely on their athletisim early on in their career, Galvin is getting by on his effort and footy IQ.
Shane Richardson likens Galvin to John Sutton from his time at Souths. It’s early days and Sutton is an NRL legend, but the playing style matches up. While he might not be the youngster that becomes popular through highlight reel plays, there’s a good chance I’m ciricling little actions like those above as reasons for him winning Rookie of the Year in a few months time.
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