Doubts have been cast over the Bulldogs’ decision to replace Toby Sexton with Lachlan Galvin at halfback, with Braith Anasta declaring “the jury’s still out” on Galvin.

Galvin will wear the No.7 jersey for Canterbury’s clash against the Dragons on Saturday evening at Accor Stadium, with Sexton relegated to the reserves.

It’s a reversal of the decision the club made last week against the Cowboys, when Sexton retained his spot at halfback, with no room for Galvin in the Dogs’ 17 in Townsville.

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But the Bulldogs managed to score just two tries in their 12-8 victory, despite the Cowboys having the worst defensive record of any NRL team in 2025.

That performance sparked concerns over Sexton’s ability to guide the team in attack.

Of the halfbacks in the teams currently sitting in the top four, Sexton has the least try assists (7) and line breaks (0) this season.

Anasta, a 2004 premiership winner with the Bulldogs, said while he wasn’t entirely convinced about Galvin, he had faith in coach Cameron Ciraldo’s judgement.

“I trust Cameron Ciraldo, and I rate him highly as a coach,” Anasta said on NRL 360.

“He knows what it takes to win a premiership, he knows what attack he needs. He knows he’s not getting that attack.

“Galvin’s going to take time, and the jury’s still out on Galvin, it’s still out on Galvin, but he thinks that their best chance of their attack evolving and going to another level to match the likes of the Melbourne Storm and Canberra, is with Galvin in it, and Sexton just didn’t get there.”

Journalist Dean Ritchie didn’t agree with Anasta.

“What you just said Braith, was quite unfair. I don’t know whether it was a throwaway line, but you just said before, ‘Sexton just didn’t quite get there,’” Ritchie added.
“Surely that’s debatable. He took them to the top of the premiership.

“He took them to the top of the table, and they’re now running (third), so he did get them there.”

But Anasta clarified his comments.

“What I’m saying is, he didn’t get to the level that they wanted in attack,” Anasta said.

“They didn’t evolve enough to match the likes of Melbourne, Canberra, even the Broncos, with their attack.”

Paul Crawley was critical of Galvin’s performance in his last game in Round 18, when the Bulldogs lost 22-18 to the Broncos after leading 18-0 with just 20 minutes to go.

“And if you go back to Galvin’s most recent game too, the old saying, ‘you’re only as good as your last game,’” Crawley said.

“Well, that last game, he was far from impressive in that game because he threw two bullets through Matt Burton’s body, he gave Kikau another one.

“I just wonder where this has come from, on the back of that performance.”

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Crawley said the Bulldogs needed to be careful that the decision to bring Galvin into the team, at the expense of Sexton, doesn’t hinder their defence, which is the best in the NRL.

“You talk about the Bulldogs need to grow a leg in attack,” Crawley said.

“But when I think about the fact that they did lead the premiership, and what they built their success on was their defence, their commitment to one another, and you would just hope that this doesn’t pull apart their greatest strength, to try and strengthen a weakness.

“A lot of people considered them, rightly so, as a team that could have won the comp, without this change.”