From the start of his first pre-season in charge, Tigers coach Benji Marshall maintained he would pick the players who demanded selection regardless of age or reputation.
It’s the kind of thing new coaches say to show they mean business. It makes for good copy during the long summer as we scratch around for any rugby league news that’s fit to print.
But for Marshall it wasn’t just words. He’s really doing it, starting with 18-year old Lachlan Galvin being named at five-eighth for the Tigers in their season opener against Canberra this weekend.
Nobody would have blinked twice if Marshall had gone with the experienced Aidan Sezer. The Tigers have a bevy of talented young halves. Marshall played a big role in bringing Sezer to the club to act as a steady hand who can act as a bridge to the future.
Sezer would have been the safe play but Marshall has never, ever been afraid of taking a chance and it’s fitting that the new coach, who was the defining prodigy of the club’s history as a player, will take a chance on a youngster in his first game in charge.
“One thing I made clear with the squad at the start of pre-season was it doesn’t matter who you are or how old you are, if you earn the opportunity, you’ll get it,” Marshall said.
“Lachie and Solomona [Faataape] have earned the opportunity. They put a lot of pressure on me for selection, and that’s what I thought was best for the team.
“Lachie is one of those guys who just plays footy, he plays what he sees, he’s not overawed by situations. There’s no fear in what he does.
“We’re looking forward to seeing him play. He’s a big kid, and he’s also a really good kid, that’s what we love about him the most.”
Given he was playing second row in the club’s under 17s team just two years ago and only began training with the top tier over the summer, Galvin’s elevation is a surprise but it shouldn’t be a shock.
Starting them young is the Wests Tigers way. Robbie Farah, Mitchell Moses, Luke Brooks and James Tedesco all debuted as teenagers. Chris Lawrence was a 17-year-old schoolboy when he pulled on the colours for the first time.
Tallyn da Silva, one of the club’s new generation of prospects, played five NRL matches last season and is still young enough to play SG Ball (under 19s) this year.
But the ultimate phenom in the club’s history is still Marshall himself.
He was barely 18 when he debuted back in 2003 and he retained enough of that youthful energy that even now, 21 years into the future and three seasons after retiring, he does not look like an old man as he trains alongside his charges or sound like one when he speaks to them.
For someone of Galvin’s age, Marshall has an aura few other players or coaches could ever hope to match. His belief would give the younger man tremendous confidence.
However, confidence is something Galvin already has in spades. He was man of the match in last year’s Schoolboy Cup final and captained the Australian Schoolboys.
His only experience playing against men came in this year’s trials but he’s excelled in the pre-season, particularly in the fitness stakes.
“He trains hard, he won every test in the pre-season, fitness wise, and as an 18-year-old kid, you want to see how they go defensively, and in the wrestle room he was outstanding as well,” Marshall said.
“When you see a guy train the way he has in the pre-season, then you put him in situations where he’s playing against the big boys in the second team, and he’s carving them up, then you put him on in a trial, and he brings energy and a fresh spark, two weeks after that [last trial], he’s been outstanding.
“He put pressure on me to select him – I didn’t pick him for nothing, he earned it.”
It’s easy to see why Marshall has made this decision. If Galvin is the future, what’s the point of waiting? Nobody waited for Marshall and look how that turned out. Once he was good enough it didn’t matter if he was old enough.
Of course, it’s never quite that simple. Marshall has been in rugby league long enough to see every outcome of a teenage sensation.
He was there when Tedesco blew his knee out 20 minutes into his debut only to rebound and eventually become the best player in the sport.
He was there for the beginning of Brooks, when the Andrew Johns comparisons were so loud they could not be ignored, and for the end, when club and player finally escaped a prison of belief built by crushing expectations he could never truly fulfil.
He understands that rugby league has a Messiah complex, to the point where a team game can sometimes be talked about like an individual sport.
Relieving that pressure on Galvin won’t be easy, especially given the Tigers faithful are desperate for something new to believe in, but Marshall will do what he can to shield his new five-eighth from the hype.
When a player of Galvin’s pedigree debuts this young they literally have time on their side but they are rarely afforded that time.
There is no waiting when it comes to saviours and even if they need to take it slow for things to work themselves out fine, they rarely get even a little patience.
Nobody – not Tedesco or Brooks or even Benji Marshall – becomes their destiny overnight. If any young coach can understand that, it’s Marshall and if any fanbase should understand that it’s the Tigers.
Galvin’s debut won’t be easy. The Raiders are physical and mean and they’ll go after the kid as best they can.
But Marshall believes he can handle both the physical barrage from Canberra and the mental pressures that come when everyone believes you’re a saviour.
If he didn’t believe Galvin could handle it, he wouldn’t have picked him in the first place.
“It’s first grade, you expect that from anyone who makes their debut, especially in the halves where you will have to make a few tackles,” said Marshall.
“One of his greatest strengths is his defence. I wouldn’t be surprised [if they do bash him].
“They’re a physical team, at home they’ll be tough to beat.
“There’s not any expectation on him. We just want him to do his job.
“His role is no different to the other 16 blokes who take the field. Do your job, and do it well. That’s all we expect from him.”
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