Phil Rothfield has cast doubts over the sincerity of a hug that was shared between Lachlan Galvin and Jarome Luai after the Tigers’ win over the Bulldogs on Sunday.
It was the first time Galvin had played against the Tigers since joining Canterbury mid-season from the joint venture club.
But his former teammates earned bragging rights over him as the Tigers stunned the third placed Bulldogs in one of upsets of the season at CommBank Stadium.
Galvin and Luai were seen embracing one another after full-time, but the veteran reporter wasn’t having a bar of it.
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“But you know what, Buzz? They hugged after the game, Luai and Galvin,” NRL 360 host Braith Anasta said to Rothfield on Monday night.
“They looked like they’re fine.”
But Rothfield disagreed.
“Oh, please. You know what. They could see a TV camera there,” Rothfield said.
“That was a PR hug for the cameras.
“Look at it. Of course it is.
“There is a deep, set, dislike and you know there is.”
Panellist Brent Read, however, feels that the feud between the pair has now eased somewhat.
“But I think over time, Buzz, now they’re apart, I reckon it’s probably mellowed to an extent,” Read added.
“You can see that footage there. Look, they’re never going to be best mates. We know that, right.
“But I think they’re at a point where they’ve both basically moved on.
“That’s how I see it but there was angst there, there’s no doubt about that, there was drama there.”
Co-host Gorden Tallis believes tensions will always be there between Galvin and Luai.
“It’ll be there for the rest of their career, without a doubt,” Tallis said.
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Rothfield agreed with Tallis.
“I guarantee you, when they play again next year, it’ll be on again, and it’ll be on every time he’s wearing a Canterbury jersey,” Rothfield said.
“Because he’s playing against a club, he walked in, or his manager did, with the dossier on Benji.
“They don’t like him.
“And good on the Wests Tigers because they fielded 17 footballers yesterday afternoon who want to play in that jersey and it showed.”
