Wests Tigers and Lachlan Galvin: a modern-day NRL saga for the social media age | Jack Snape

04/22/2025 04:06 AM

This tug-of-war is different to rugby league's standard soap opera – it has spilled over into the online realm and raises questions about employee safety

The future of 19-year-old playmaker Lachlan Galvin may be its catalyst, but rugby league's latest tug-of-war is a very contemporary NRL saga. It has been enriched this week by surprises, including the presence of a security guard at a local footy ground, an unusual intervention at a press conference by the Wests Tigers chief executive, a shock recall and now calls for "urgent mediation".

But this latest episode of rugby league soap opera is different. It has spilled over into the online realm and become the latest spot fire in sport's failing efforts to extinguish the raging blaze of social media abuse. Now, that online harm has the potential to burst forth from screens and force clubs to proactively shield players from Instagram-borne threats to their welfare.