Inside the bowels of Accor Stadium after the Bulldogs’ heart-stopping win over the Dragons, Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo gathered his jubilant players. A handful of other people were watching on.

He could have dissected the team’s nervy second half, the controversial Jacob Kiraz penalty which won them field position for the matchwinner, the heaving fans who were roaring them on from the stands and have seen the club at rock bottom, but now have a bunch of rock stars to fete over every week.

But his main message was simple: “That was a 20-year-old passing to a 19-year-old for the winning play. That is the future of our club.”

The dressing room erupted.

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Lachlan Galvin, who threw the match-sealing pass for second-gamer Jethro Rinakama to score in the dying seconds, knew this was home. He might have known it for a little bit, but this was the moment he realised his Bulldogs teammates were all-in on the NRL’s most talked about player of 2025.

On Sunday, Galvin will step out for the first time against his old club Wests Tigers after his messy exit earlier this season.

There’s not a word that hasn’t yet been written about the saga – from his management’s list of grievances about Benji Marshall’s coaching, turning down the largest offer made for a local junior in the history of the club, to the Tigers setting fire to the drama with a hasty press release, social media missives from teammates, bullying complaints, Phil Gould never meeting him before he signed, the list goes on.

CommBank Stadium will be a whir of noise every time Galvin touches the ball, from Tigers fans jeering the kid they thought would be the face of the franchise for the next decade to Bulldogs fan worshipping their new playmaking hero.

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But what is worth discussing is how Galvin has fitted in at his new club, who just might be on the cusp of a premiership run. Could anyone confidently say the Raiders, Storm or Panthers are much better chances than Canterbury a month out from the finals?

Bulldogs insiders feared Galvin wasn’t even coming to Belmore in the first place.

Once given permission by the Tigers to be released early from his deal which was due to expire in 2026, Canterbury officials put their hat in the ring for the teenager Gould said “could make more money out of rugby league than any player in the history of the game”.

But they suspected it would be the Eels who would be lining Galvin’s pockets. His family had grown up supporting the club, he had ties as a young junior there, and it seemed there was a ready-made No.6 jersey for him to walk into with Dylan Brown headed to Newcastle.

It all changed when Galvin sat down with Ciraldo and Bulldogs assistant coach Luke Vella, who coached the prodigy at Westfields Sports High School.

Not only did Ciraldo and Vella ask questions of Galvin, the then 19-year-old also asked plenty of questions of them. It immediately struck the Bulldogs how mature he was for someone thrust into the spotlight so young.

Galvin’s introduction to the Bulldogs has been eased by the presence of Vella, who had a favourite saying when coaching his Westfields team: “It’s not for everyone”. Galvin has the initials INFE tattooed on his arm.

Ciraldo’s right-hand man has been a regular presence with the rising star and his family in the sheds after games, and his work ethic has impressed a club built on blue collar roots.

Even the Bulldogs coaching staff have been surprised at how much video work and weekend games Galvin watches. In an era where players increasingly want to get away from the game when they’re not at training or playing, Ciraldo wants his players to be students of rugby league. There’s no harm in increasing your footy IQ by watching trends from others players and teams.

Galvin’s awkward integration into the NRL side – from his spectacular debut off the bench against the Eels to forcing other key players such as Reed Mahoney, Toby Sexton and Matt Burton to either shift positions or lose game time – was probably to be expected. He’s started two games on the bench, two at five-eighth and two at halfback.

In Sexton’s case, he’s now lost his spot altogether as Galvin wears the No.7 alongside Burton in the halves.

Viliame Kikau has taken Galvin under his wing of sorts since he arrived at Belmore, and the Bulldogs were most impressed with his attitude to being dropped altogether for the gutsy win over the Cowboys in Townsville, when Ciraldo preferred four forwards on the bench in the sapping humidity of the tropics. Galvin’s response was telling: “No worries.”

It’s short odds Galvin will end up the club’s long-term halfback, a position he will have to hone his craft at, rather than being an instinctive young Cameron Munster clone, but it hasn’t stopped the Bulldogs discussing using him anywhere from lock to five-eighth and even fullback at a pinch.

What is certain is how they want to taper his strength and conditioning program to make him one of the most robust halves in the NRL.

But that’s the future, and the Bulldogs fans think they can win it all now.

Which is why as good as that pass was against the Dragons, he might need to find one or two more come finals time. And if he can, a player bought for the club’s future might deliver them the present they’ve long been waiting for.