Why one of the NRL’s most hyped young talents is on the McDonald’s diet

Lachlan Galvin admits he knows the drive-thru clerks at McDonalds better than Wests Tigers star recruit Jarome Luai.

But all is well for the NRL club, who have given the five-eighth their blessing to eat whatever he likes this season.

The NRL’s breakout star of 2024, 19-year-old Galvin, is busy devising a plan to avoid second-year syndrome as he awaits the arrival of his half partner for pre-season training in the new year.

So far that plan has not included consultations with four-time premiership winner Luai, whose long-awaited arrival at the Tigers was delayed by Samoa’s tour of England.

“I haven’t talked to him at all,” Galvin said of Luai, who is tipped to help turn around the Tigers’ fortunes after three consecutive wooden spoon picks.

‘I think he will come back before Christmas and start training again in the new year.

The Tigers want Lachlan Galvin to bulk up his lean frame

The young star has struggled to add weight this preseason

‘We know how good a player he is, he will take so much pressure off me. He will lead the team, do what he has to do and I will play based on that. Whatever he wants, I’ll do it.’

Meanwhile, Galvin has set himself the target of improving his fitness and has already shaved three seconds off his 1.2km time trial, which he now completes in four minutes and 12 seconds.

“I’m pretty impressed with that,” he said.

‘I think if you work hard, good things happen.

‘(Sophomore syndrome) is the reason I came back fitter this year… I don’t want to worry about that second-year syndrome.’

Packing for size is also a top priority for the naturally slim Galvin, who is no longer a stranger to opposition defenses and will be targeted if he remains lightweight.

Galvin has grown two centimeters since winter and now stands at 193cm, but increasing the size in the other direction has been more difficult.

The five-eighth has only gained one kilo so far, but is hopeful the Tigers’ new diet plan will change that.

Galvin says he now visits McDonald’s regularly to pack on the pounds

‘I don’t eat enough. Every morning when I’m here, they tell me, ‘Eat breakfast, eat lunch,’ they watch me eat and all that. I have to put on the pounds. “I’m struggling with that, but I’m doing my best,” he said.

‘The dietitian Clare (Flower), she says, ‘Eat what you want, Lachlan’, so it’s quite nice.”

Galvin isn’t concerned about hitting calorie goals, but instead relies on Ronald McDonald to guide him.

“On the way home I get a dinner box from Maccas,” he said. “That’s why I like playing.”

‘Clare said something about that (calorie target), but I don’t even know what that means. I didn’t listen that much at school.

‘I’ll just try to eat as much as I can. If I come in the morning and I weigh more than yesterday, then I’m happy.’