Farrell seeks backing for son Owen after Lions call
Farrell said he had "no hesitation" summoning the former England captain once it became clear that Elliot Daly must return home because of a fractured forearm sustained against the Queensland Reds on Wednesday.
The Lions are reeling from the news that Daly's third tour is over just as he was playing his way into the Test team, robbing them of a player Andy Farrell described as a "legend" for the elite of British and Irish rugby.
But rather than replacing him with a similar alternative such as Wales' Blair Murray or Scotland's Tom Jordan, Andy Farrell has turned to a 33-year-old whose last Test was at the World Cup almost two years ago.
Owen Farrell was booed by England fans during the tournament and became a target on social media, which his father described as a "disgusting circus", and he stepped back from the international game to prioritise his mental wellbeing before joining French club Racing 92.
A polarising figure, he is now en route to Australia where Andy Farrell wants his prior treatment to be consigned to the past.
"I hope people can get past that. There has been a lot of that nonsense for some time," the Lions head coach said.
"That was in the past. We all just need to move on and embrace what the Lions is all about and what we have got coming ahead.
"We feel that the timing is right now, that we can all move on and push on, not just with Owen's career but what we're trying to achieve here with the Lions."
Owen Farrell will arrive in Sydney on Friday, bringing with him the experience accumulated during 112 caps for England, whom he captained from 2018 to 2023.
He will be embarking on his fourth Lions tour having made six Test appearances across the 2013, 2017 and 2021 expeditions and will bring leadership, experience and organisation.
However, his ill-fated season at French club Racing 92 was undermined by injuries and indifferent form and he missed the end of the season with a concussion sustained on May 4. He has since rejoined Saracens.
"Owen's fit or else he wouldn't be picked. I know that the guys have been keeping close touch with him in regard to that and he's been training full bore for quite some time now," Andy Farrell said.
"He's the right man at this moment in time for us. We know how much he looks after himself and prides himself on keeping in good nick anyway.
"At this stage there are plenty of players who haven't played for quite some time and experience - knowing what you can do - helps in that regard."
Saturday's clash with New South Wales Waratahs has come too soon and the third match in Australia will see Ireland's Tadhg Beirne take charge.
Blair Kinghorn and Hugo Keenan will make their Lions debuts on the left wing and at full-back respectively.
Andy Farrell has urged British and Irish Lions fans to get behind his son Owen's shock call-up to Australia in the hope he escapes the type of negativity he faced at the 2023 World Cup.
Farrell said he had "no hesitation" summoning the former England captain once it became clear that Elliot Daly must return home because of a fractured forearm sustained against the Queensland Reds on Wednesday.
The Lions are reeling from the news that Daly's third tour is over just as he was playing his way into the Test team, robbing them of a player Andy Farrell described as a "legend" for the elite of British and Irish rugby.
But rather than replacing him with a similar alternative such as Wales' Blair Murray or Scotland's Tom Jordan, Andy Farrell has turned to a 33-year-old whose last Test was at the World Cup almost two years ago.
Owen Farrell was booed by England fans during the tournament and became a target on social media, which his father described as a "disgusting circus", and he stepped back from the international game to prioritise his mental wellbeing before joining French club Racing 92.
A polarising figure, he is now en route to Australia where Andy Farrell wants his prior treatment to be consigned to the past.
"I hope people can get past that. There has been a lot of that nonsense for some time," the Lions head coach said.
"That was in the past. We all just need to move on and embrace what the Lions is all about and what we have got coming ahead.
"We feel that the timing is right now, that we can all move on and push on, not just with Owen's career but what we're trying to achieve here with the Lions."
Owen Farrell will arrive in Sydney on Friday, bringing with him the experience accumulated during 112 caps for England, whom he captained from 2018 to 2023.
He will be embarking on his fourth Lions tour having made six Test appearances across the 2013, 2017 and 2021 expeditions and will bring leadership, experience and organisation.
However, his ill-fated season at French club Racing 92 was undermined by injuries and indifferent form and he missed the end of the season with a concussion sustained on May 4. He has since rejoined Saracens.
"Owen's fit or else he wouldn't be picked. I know that the guys have been keeping close touch with him in regard to that and he's been training full bore for quite some time now," Andy Farrell said.
"He's the right man at this moment in time for us. We know how much he looks after himself and prides himself on keeping in good nick anyway.
"At this stage there are plenty of players who haven't played for quite some time and experience - knowing what you can do - helps in that regard."
Saturday's clash with New South Wales Waratahs has come too soon and the third match in Australia will see Ireland's Tadhg Beirne take charge.
Blair Kinghorn and Hugo Keenan will make their Lions debuts on the left wing and at full-back respectively.
Andy Farrell has urged British and Irish Lions fans to get behind his son Owen's shock call-up to Australia in the hope he escapes the type of negativity he faced at the 2023 World Cup.
Farrell said he had "no hesitation" summoning the former England captain once it became clear that Elliot Daly must return home because of a fractured forearm sustained against the Queensland Reds on Wednesday.
The Lions are reeling from the news that Daly's third tour is over just as he was playing his way into the Test team, robbing them of a player Andy Farrell described as a "legend" for the elite of British and Irish rugby.
But rather than replacing him with a similar alternative such as Wales' Blair Murray or Scotland's Tom Jordan, Andy Farrell has turned to a 33-year-old whose last Test was at the World Cup almost two years ago.
Owen Farrell was booed by England fans during the tournament and became a target on social media, which his father described as a "disgusting circus", and he stepped back from the international game to prioritise his mental wellbeing before joining French club Racing 92.
A polarising figure, he is now en route to Australia where Andy Farrell wants his prior treatment to be consigned to the past.
"I hope people can get past that. There has been a lot of that nonsense for some time," the Lions head coach said.
"That was in the past. We all just need to move on and embrace what the Lions is all about and what we have got coming ahead.
"We feel that the timing is right now, that we can all move on and push on, not just with Owen's career but what we're trying to achieve here with the Lions."
Owen Farrell will arrive in Sydney on Friday, bringing with him the experience accumulated during 112 caps for England, whom he captained from 2018 to 2023.
He will be embarking on his fourth Lions tour having made six Test appearances across the 2013, 2017 and 2021 expeditions and will bring leadership, experience and organisation.
However, his ill-fated season at French club Racing 92 was undermined by injuries and indifferent form and he missed the end of the season with a concussion sustained on May 4. He has since rejoined Saracens.
"Owen's fit or else he wouldn't be picked. I know that the guys have been keeping close touch with him in regard to that and he's been training full bore for quite some time now," Andy Farrell said.
"He's the right man at this moment in time for us. We know how much he looks after himself and prides himself on keeping in good nick anyway.
"At this stage there are plenty of players who haven't played for quite some time and experience - knowing what you can do - helps in that regard."
Saturday's clash with New South Wales Waratahs has come too soon and the third match in Australia will see Ireland's Tadhg Beirne take charge.
Blair Kinghorn and Hugo Keenan will make their Lions debuts on the left wing and at full-back respectively.
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Herald Sun
2 hours ago
- Herald Sun
Wimbledon; Alex de Minaur, Jordan Thompson and Daria Kasatkina into third round
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The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Aussie No.1s sidestep seeds carnage with Wimbledon wins
Alex de Minaur and Daria Kasatkina, Australia's biggest Wimbledon hopes, have been left relieved to avoid joining the legion of seeds who've already been scattered at this shock-laden Wimbledon as they battled into the third round. In perfect sunny conditions on Thursday (Friday AEST), de Minaur brushed off a woeful first set against French qualifier Arthur Cazaux before regrouping and eventually showing some signs of his best in a 4-6 6-2 6-4 6-0 victory. Then after his fellow Sydneysider Aleksandar Vukic had been crushed by the full power of world No.1 Jannik Sinner, the other national No.1 Kasatkina came through her second-round arm wrestle with old Romanian rival Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2 4-6 6-1. So there'll be at least three Australians in the last 32, with injury-hampered Jordan Thompson having heroically made it into the third round on Wednesday - and Rinky Hijikata almost but not quite out of it on the brink of defeat to Ben Shelton when his match was controversially suspended because of the dying light. The encouraging news for world No.11 de Minaur is he'll next be facing Denmark's August Holmgren, a qualifier ranked 181 places below him who knocked out Czech 21st seed Tomas Machac and may feel drained after the second longest match of the championships lasting four hours 38 minutes. Fifteen of the 32 men's seeds had already fallen in the first two rounds, and 15 of the women's - and there was momentary concern both de Minaur and Kasatkina, the newest recruit for Australian tennis, might join them. "It just shows you, this sport, it's not easy out there. Anything can happen on any given day," sighed de Minaur. 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Kasatkina, the 16th seed, has beaten 34-year-old Begu more times than she's defeated any other player, so it looked a perfect draw as she swept through the first set, only for the veteran to uncork some laser shotmaking in the second. But, though occasionally venting her frustration to her courtside team about an uneven performance, Kasatkina recovered her poise, earned an early break in the decider and then reeled off the final four games to book a much more challenging third-round encounter with 18th seed Liudmila Samsonova, who's already knocked out star teenage Australian Maya Joint. "I prefer this fire and getting this anger than when I don't feel the energy at all. So sometimes I was screaming to the box and stuff, but that's important, it gives you energy," Kasatkina said. Sydneysider Vukic gave Carlos Alcaraz a few worries last year on No.1 Court but his latest big-match date on Centre proved a bloodless affair as he was taken apart by Sinner 6-1 6-1 6-3 in an hour and 40 minutes, with his most notable resistance emerging at the death when he saved five match points. "I feel like I'm in a boxing ring and just have to go back out there," sighed the "pummelled" Vukic. In near-darkness at 9.30pm, there was still general amazement when the chair umpire told Shelton he was suspending the No.2 Court contest against Hijikata just as the dominant American 10th seed was leading 6-2 7-5 5-4 and about to step out to serve for the match. Shelton was outraged, understandably complaining, while Hijikata, equally understandably, zoomed off court before minds could be changed. The match will be resumed on Friday. Earlier, Australia's Olympic men's doubles champions, 15th seeds John Peers and Matt Ebden, bowed out in the opening round, losing 6-3 6-4 to Czech pair Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl. Alex de Minaur and Daria Kasatkina, Australia's biggest Wimbledon hopes, have been left relieved to avoid joining the legion of seeds who've already been scattered at this shock-laden Wimbledon as they battled into the third round. In perfect sunny conditions on Thursday (Friday AEST), de Minaur brushed off a woeful first set against French qualifier Arthur Cazaux before regrouping and eventually showing some signs of his best in a 4-6 6-2 6-4 6-0 victory. Then after his fellow Sydneysider Aleksandar Vukic had been crushed by the full power of world No.1 Jannik Sinner, the other national No.1 Kasatkina came through her second-round arm wrestle with old Romanian rival Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2 4-6 6-1. So there'll be at least three Australians in the last 32, with injury-hampered Jordan Thompson having heroically made it into the third round on Wednesday - and Rinky Hijikata almost but not quite out of it on the brink of defeat to Ben Shelton when his match was controversially suspended because of the dying light. The encouraging news for world No.11 de Minaur is he'll next be facing Denmark's August Holmgren, a qualifier ranked 181 places below him who knocked out Czech 21st seed Tomas Machac and may feel drained after the second longest match of the championships lasting four hours 38 minutes. Fifteen of the 32 men's seeds had already fallen in the first two rounds, and 15 of the women's - and there was momentary concern both de Minaur and Kasatkina, the newest recruit for Australian tennis, might join them. "It just shows you, this sport, it's not easy out there. Anything can happen on any given day," sighed de Minaur. And though his victory, featuring 31 unforced errors, suggested plenty of work to be done still, he was grateful to have avoided the same second-round calamity of the French Open when beaten by Alexander Bublik. De Minaur had never been knocked out of a grand slam by anyone as lowly ranked as No.115 Cazaux, but alarm bells rang once the fluid server from Montpellier took advantage of de Minaur's absent-minded start on a packed No.2 Court. But urged on at courtside by his Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, de Minaur stirred, nearly doubled his first-serve percentage of 33 per cent to 63 per cent and swept to level the set scores. Cazaux's spirit was broken after de Minaur's late break in the second, and 'Demon' felt freed to play his best tennis of the tournament so far, feeding the dispirited Frenchman a 41-minute 'bagel' set. His next opponent Holmgren will have to recover from a marathon in which he finally kayoed Machac 7-6 (7-5) 6-8 (8-10) 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-5). Kasatkina, the 16th seed, has beaten 34-year-old Begu more times than she's defeated any other player, so it looked a perfect draw as she swept through the first set, only for the veteran to uncork some laser shotmaking in the second. But, though occasionally venting her frustration to her courtside team about an uneven performance, Kasatkina recovered her poise, earned an early break in the decider and then reeled off the final four games to book a much more challenging third-round encounter with 18th seed Liudmila Samsonova, who's already knocked out star teenage Australian Maya Joint. "I prefer this fire and getting this anger than when I don't feel the energy at all. So sometimes I was screaming to the box and stuff, but that's important, it gives you energy," Kasatkina said. Sydneysider Vukic gave Carlos Alcaraz a few worries last year on No.1 Court but his latest big-match date on Centre proved a bloodless affair as he was taken apart by Sinner 6-1 6-1 6-3 in an hour and 40 minutes, with his most notable resistance emerging at the death when he saved five match points. "I feel like I'm in a boxing ring and just have to go back out there," sighed the "pummelled" Vukic. In near-darkness at 9.30pm, there was still general amazement when the chair umpire told Shelton he was suspending the No.2 Court contest against Hijikata just as the dominant American 10th seed was leading 6-2 7-5 5-4 and about to step out to serve for the match. Shelton was outraged, understandably complaining, while Hijikata, equally understandably, zoomed off court before minds could be changed. The match will be resumed on Friday. Earlier, Australia's Olympic men's doubles champions, 15th seeds John Peers and Matt Ebden, bowed out in the opening round, losing 6-3 6-4 to Czech pair Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl. Alex de Minaur and Daria Kasatkina, Australia's biggest Wimbledon hopes, have been left relieved to avoid joining the legion of seeds who've already been scattered at this shock-laden Wimbledon as they battled into the third round. In perfect sunny conditions on Thursday (Friday AEST), de Minaur brushed off a woeful first set against French qualifier Arthur Cazaux before regrouping and eventually showing some signs of his best in a 4-6 6-2 6-4 6-0 victory. Then after his fellow Sydneysider Aleksandar Vukic had been crushed by the full power of world No.1 Jannik Sinner, the other national No.1 Kasatkina came through her second-round arm wrestle with old Romanian rival Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2 4-6 6-1. So there'll be at least three Australians in the last 32, with injury-hampered Jordan Thompson having heroically made it into the third round on Wednesday - and Rinky Hijikata almost but not quite out of it on the brink of defeat to Ben Shelton when his match was controversially suspended because of the dying light. The encouraging news for world No.11 de Minaur is he'll next be facing Denmark's August Holmgren, a qualifier ranked 181 places below him who knocked out Czech 21st seed Tomas Machac and may feel drained after the second longest match of the championships lasting four hours 38 minutes. Fifteen of the 32 men's seeds had already fallen in the first two rounds, and 15 of the women's - and there was momentary concern both de Minaur and Kasatkina, the newest recruit for Australian tennis, might join them. "It just shows you, this sport, it's not easy out there. Anything can happen on any given day," sighed de Minaur. And though his victory, featuring 31 unforced errors, suggested plenty of work to be done still, he was grateful to have avoided the same second-round calamity of the French Open when beaten by Alexander Bublik. De Minaur had never been knocked out of a grand slam by anyone as lowly ranked as No.115 Cazaux, but alarm bells rang once the fluid server from Montpellier took advantage of de Minaur's absent-minded start on a packed No.2 Court. But urged on at courtside by his Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, de Minaur stirred, nearly doubled his first-serve percentage of 33 per cent to 63 per cent and swept to level the set scores. Cazaux's spirit was broken after de Minaur's late break in the second, and 'Demon' felt freed to play his best tennis of the tournament so far, feeding the dispirited Frenchman a 41-minute 'bagel' set. His next opponent Holmgren will have to recover from a marathon in which he finally kayoed Machac 7-6 (7-5) 6-8 (8-10) 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-5). Kasatkina, the 16th seed, has beaten 34-year-old Begu more times than she's defeated any other player, so it looked a perfect draw as she swept through the first set, only for the veteran to uncork some laser shotmaking in the second. But, though occasionally venting her frustration to her courtside team about an uneven performance, Kasatkina recovered her poise, earned an early break in the decider and then reeled off the final four games to book a much more challenging third-round encounter with 18th seed Liudmila Samsonova, who's already knocked out star teenage Australian Maya Joint. "I prefer this fire and getting this anger than when I don't feel the energy at all. So sometimes I was screaming to the box and stuff, but that's important, it gives you energy," Kasatkina said. Sydneysider Vukic gave Carlos Alcaraz a few worries last year on No.1 Court but his latest big-match date on Centre proved a bloodless affair as he was taken apart by Sinner 6-1 6-1 6-3 in an hour and 40 minutes, with his most notable resistance emerging at the death when he saved five match points. "I feel like I'm in a boxing ring and just have to go back out there," sighed the "pummelled" Vukic. In near-darkness at 9.30pm, there was still general amazement when the chair umpire told Shelton he was suspending the No.2 Court contest against Hijikata just as the dominant American 10th seed was leading 6-2 7-5 5-4 and about to step out to serve for the match. Shelton was outraged, understandably complaining, while Hijikata, equally understandably, zoomed off court before minds could be changed. The match will be resumed on Friday. Earlier, Australia's Olympic men's doubles champions, 15th seeds John Peers and Matt Ebden, bowed out in the opening round, losing 6-3 6-4 to Czech pair Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl. Alex de Minaur and Daria Kasatkina, Australia's biggest Wimbledon hopes, have been left relieved to avoid joining the legion of seeds who've already been scattered at this shock-laden Wimbledon as they battled into the third round. In perfect sunny conditions on Thursday (Friday AEST), de Minaur brushed off a woeful first set against French qualifier Arthur Cazaux before regrouping and eventually showing some signs of his best in a 4-6 6-2 6-4 6-0 victory. Then after his fellow Sydneysider Aleksandar Vukic had been crushed by the full power of world No.1 Jannik Sinner, the other national No.1 Kasatkina came through her second-round arm wrestle with old Romanian rival Irina-Camelia Begu 6-2 4-6 6-1. So there'll be at least three Australians in the last 32, with injury-hampered Jordan Thompson having heroically made it into the third round on Wednesday - and Rinky Hijikata almost but not quite out of it on the brink of defeat to Ben Shelton when his match was controversially suspended because of the dying light. The encouraging news for world No.11 de Minaur is he'll next be facing Denmark's August Holmgren, a qualifier ranked 181 places below him who knocked out Czech 21st seed Tomas Machac and may feel drained after the second longest match of the championships lasting four hours 38 minutes. Fifteen of the 32 men's seeds had already fallen in the first two rounds, and 15 of the women's - and there was momentary concern both de Minaur and Kasatkina, the newest recruit for Australian tennis, might join them. "It just shows you, this sport, it's not easy out there. Anything can happen on any given day," sighed de Minaur. And though his victory, featuring 31 unforced errors, suggested plenty of work to be done still, he was grateful to have avoided the same second-round calamity of the French Open when beaten by Alexander Bublik. De Minaur had never been knocked out of a grand slam by anyone as lowly ranked as No.115 Cazaux, but alarm bells rang once the fluid server from Montpellier took advantage of de Minaur's absent-minded start on a packed No.2 Court. But urged on at courtside by his Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, de Minaur stirred, nearly doubled his first-serve percentage of 33 per cent to 63 per cent and swept to level the set scores. Cazaux's spirit was broken after de Minaur's late break in the second, and 'Demon' felt freed to play his best tennis of the tournament so far, feeding the dispirited Frenchman a 41-minute 'bagel' set. His next opponent Holmgren will have to recover from a marathon in which he finally kayoed Machac 7-6 (7-5) 6-8 (8-10) 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-5). Kasatkina, the 16th seed, has beaten 34-year-old Begu more times than she's defeated any other player, so it looked a perfect draw as she swept through the first set, only for the veteran to uncork some laser shotmaking in the second. But, though occasionally venting her frustration to her courtside team about an uneven performance, Kasatkina recovered her poise, earned an early break in the decider and then reeled off the final four games to book a much more challenging third-round encounter with 18th seed Liudmila Samsonova, who's already knocked out star teenage Australian Maya Joint. "I prefer this fire and getting this anger than when I don't feel the energy at all. So sometimes I was screaming to the box and stuff, but that's important, it gives you energy," Kasatkina said. Sydneysider Vukic gave Carlos Alcaraz a few worries last year on No.1 Court but his latest big-match date on Centre proved a bloodless affair as he was taken apart by Sinner 6-1 6-1 6-3 in an hour and 40 minutes, with his most notable resistance emerging at the death when he saved five match points. "I feel like I'm in a boxing ring and just have to go back out there," sighed the "pummelled" Vukic. In near-darkness at 9.30pm, there was still general amazement when the chair umpire told Shelton he was suspending the No.2 Court contest against Hijikata just as the dominant American 10th seed was leading 6-2 7-5 5-4 and about to step out to serve for the match. Shelton was outraged, understandably complaining, while Hijikata, equally understandably, zoomed off court before minds could be changed. The match will be resumed on Friday. Earlier, Australia's Olympic men's doubles champions, 15th seeds John Peers and Matt Ebden, bowed out in the opening round, losing 6-3 6-4 to Czech pair Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl.
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Bulldogs' halves puzzle solved with playmaker's exit
Lachlan Galvin will finally have the chance to become a regular starting half at Canterbury after Toby Sexton signed with French side Catalans Dragons for 2026. Sexton's move will solve the halves conundrum triggered by the Bulldogs' mid-season signing of Wests Tigers gun Galvin this year. The Bulldogs are currently playing Galvin off the bench and starting Matt Burton in the halves next to halfback Sexton, who moves to hooker once Galvin comes on. But that plan appeared unsustainable for the future given Galvin's status as a generational talent whose preference is to play in the halves long-term. Journeyman Sexton, without a Bulldogs contract for 2026, had always appeared the likeliest of the three halves options to move on, despite career-best form this year. Bulldogs powerbrokers had been coy when publicly quizzed about Sexton's future at the club beyond this year, as had the 24-year-old himself. Sexton was considered a chance to be fashioned into a hooker at the Bulldogs should Reed Mahoney depart the club. Instead, he signed a two-year deal to join Catalans - the only French side currently playing in the Super League competition. "I'm super pumped to be joining the Catalans Dragons for the following season and can't wait for what's ahead," Sexton said. Sexton has played every game this season for top-two hopefuls the Bulldogs and is the French club's first new signing for the 2026 season. He is poised to partner Luke Keary in the halves, with the three-time NRL premiership winner contracted there until next year. Tevita Pangai Jr, Reimis Smith and Elliott Whitehead are among the other NRL players currently on Catalans' roster. Lachlan Galvin will finally have the chance to become a regular starting half at Canterbury after Toby Sexton signed with French side Catalans Dragons for 2026. Sexton's move will solve the halves conundrum triggered by the Bulldogs' mid-season signing of Wests Tigers gun Galvin this year. The Bulldogs are currently playing Galvin off the bench and starting Matt Burton in the halves next to halfback Sexton, who moves to hooker once Galvin comes on. But that plan appeared unsustainable for the future given Galvin's status as a generational talent whose preference is to play in the halves long-term. Journeyman Sexton, without a Bulldogs contract for 2026, had always appeared the likeliest of the three halves options to move on, despite career-best form this year. Bulldogs powerbrokers had been coy when publicly quizzed about Sexton's future at the club beyond this year, as had the 24-year-old himself. Sexton was considered a chance to be fashioned into a hooker at the Bulldogs should Reed Mahoney depart the club. Instead, he signed a two-year deal to join Catalans - the only French side currently playing in the Super League competition. "I'm super pumped to be joining the Catalans Dragons for the following season and can't wait for what's ahead," Sexton said. Sexton has played every game this season for top-two hopefuls the Bulldogs and is the French club's first new signing for the 2026 season. He is poised to partner Luke Keary in the halves, with the three-time NRL premiership winner contracted there until next year. Tevita Pangai Jr, Reimis Smith and Elliott Whitehead are among the other NRL players currently on Catalans' roster. Lachlan Galvin will finally have the chance to become a regular starting half at Canterbury after Toby Sexton signed with French side Catalans Dragons for 2026. Sexton's move will solve the halves conundrum triggered by the Bulldogs' mid-season signing of Wests Tigers gun Galvin this year. The Bulldogs are currently playing Galvin off the bench and starting Matt Burton in the halves next to halfback Sexton, who moves to hooker once Galvin comes on. But that plan appeared unsustainable for the future given Galvin's status as a generational talent whose preference is to play in the halves long-term. Journeyman Sexton, without a Bulldogs contract for 2026, had always appeared the likeliest of the three halves options to move on, despite career-best form this year. Bulldogs powerbrokers had been coy when publicly quizzed about Sexton's future at the club beyond this year, as had the 24-year-old himself. Sexton was considered a chance to be fashioned into a hooker at the Bulldogs should Reed Mahoney depart the club. Instead, he signed a two-year deal to join Catalans - the only French side currently playing in the Super League competition. "I'm super pumped to be joining the Catalans Dragons for the following season and can't wait for what's ahead," Sexton said. Sexton has played every game this season for top-two hopefuls the Bulldogs and is the French club's first new signing for the 2026 season. He is poised to partner Luke Keary in the halves, with the three-time NRL premiership winner contracted there until next year. Tevita Pangai Jr, Reimis Smith and Elliott Whitehead are among the other NRL players currently on Catalans' roster.
