Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall says departed teen star Lachlan Galvin in his rear-vision mirror as video emerges of him training at the Bulldogs

Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall is keen to put departed teen star Lachlan Galvin in his and the club’s rear-vision mirror, adamant there’s a “really positive” vibe after the playmaker’s move to the Bulldogs was all but confirmed. The drawn-out saga, which included accusations from Galvin’s management that the halfback wouldn’t improve under Marshall’s coaching, cast a dark cloud over the club for weeks. Galvin’s move to Canterbury is expected to be confirmed this week, with social media footage appearing to show Galvin already on the field at the Bulldogs’ Belmore headquarters on Friday circulating online. In Townsville for Saturday’s clash with the North Queensland Cowboys, Marshall was reticent to dwell on the soap opera, keen to focus on the “players we’ve got” and what they could achieve. “I guess everyone’s probably a little bit sick of talking about it and it being reported,” Marshall said. “But we’re just focused on the game. I know it’s a clichéd thing to say, but we have to be. “It’s been a great week at training. Everyone’s looking forward to just playing. We had a week off last week with the bye. The energy around the place has been really good, really positive.” With five wins from 11 games, the Tigers are out of the bottom reaches of the ladder where they’ve lived in recent seasons. But they aren’t far enough away for Marshall’s liking and he’s backed in the quality of his squad, minus Galvin, to keep surging up the table. “We like the players we’ve got, we love the squad we’ve got, we’re excited about some of the young players coming through and for us,” he said. “We want to try and make a mark on the competition this year. The squad we’ve got, we’re confident we can do that.” The Tigers will unleash another teenager against the Cowboys, with 19-year-old Heath Mason named for his first start, replacing Galvin in the halves, and he’s been given a simple game plan. “We just need our halves to do their job and control the field position,” Marshall said. “We’ve seen some great glimpses of play from some of our players this year, and we’re coming up against a pretty good Cowboys team that have got a lot of great attacking players.”