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What they said: How SEN reacted to the NRL's biggest stories of 2025
Sam Kosack • December 29th, 2025 2:41 pm
As 2025 comes to a close, SEN reflects on how some of the game's biggest names reacted to the biggest stories from the season that was.
From signing sagas that lasted months to new sides and stars that announced themselves to the world, here's how SEN's talent reacted to the news that shaped another season in the greatest game of all.
Lachlan Galvin's Wests Tigers exit
Lachlan Galvin caused headlines back in April when the talented 20-year-old requested a release from the Wests Tigers after they offered him the biggest offer for a junior in club history.
Stories began spiralling out of the Wests Tigers’ shock announcement, with rumours of angst between Galvin, and key players and Benji Marshall circling. And through all this, an early release seemed certain despite assurances from both parties it wouldn’t happen.
The club ultimately dropped Galvin to reserve grade the next week before the five-eighth worked his way back into the first grade side, playing four more games in orange and black before joining the Bulldogs mid-season.
It proved a decisive signing for the Bulldogs, who were in first and dropped halfback Toby Sexton to accommodate Galvin’s arrival. The Bulldogs would ultimately bail out of finals in Week 2 despite their top four finish and Sexton would leave the club to join the Catalans Dragons.
Back as the saga began unfolding, NRL great Matty Johns would correctly predict everything that would befall Galvin at the Bulldogs.
“I’ve just got a gut feel he’d end up at the Bulldogs,” Johns said on SEN 1170 Drive in May.
“I know what Gus (Gould) and Cameron Ciraldo think of Lachie Galvin but they’re flying at the moment and a season that’s going really good, you can bring in your own problems.
“I’m just looking at the Toby Sexton situation and Toby for the last 12 months has pushed them around the park so well.
“I just wonder, if he does go there, are they able to keep Sexton? Because if they allow Sexton to go for Galvin, there’s a problem there.
“That would be a serious problem if you go right, we got Galvin and we got Burton who’s going to play seven… that’d take a lot of adjusting.”
Cameron Munster's Origin III Heroics
Cameron Munster's performance in the Origin decider will be hailed as one of the greatest in history, after the Maroons' captain showed supreme courage to lead his state to an unlikely series win.
Munster was named Queensland captain after the axing of Daly Cherry-Evans ahead of Game II.
But ahead of the series decider, Munster's father Steven unexpectedly passed. No one would blame him for pulling out of the game, but instead Munster inspired his state and side to a famous Origin series victory, and etching his name in the halls of Queensland legends.
After the game, former Maroon Corey Parker reflected on Munster's bravery on the biggest stage.
"I've never faced that sort of adversity whilst playing the game of football," Parker said on SENQ Breakfast in July.
"But the one thing that you do rely on is just that camaraderie and that mateship. And you can see that, you can't fake that either.
"Cam Munster went back with his family, then his whole family came down to Sydney with him and the team really rallied around, not only Cameron, but the extended family, which It's such a powerful thing.
"Now he's still got to go through the grieving processes of losing his dad, but I'll tell you what, his dad, looking down from above would be enormously proud.
"What a performance. What a game. I mean you talk about the storylines that were facing the Queenslanders. No one gave us hope."
Daly Cherry-Evans announces Manly exit on national TV
Daly Cherry-Evans caused headlines in Round 3 of the season, revealing on national television he wouldn’t be re-signing with Manly Sea Eagles for 2026.
It was a shock move as many expected that, after 15 seasons at the club, the Manly captain would finish his career as a one-club player.
The news initially broke at 6pm on March 25, before Manly bosses made Cherry-Evans a public contract offer on NRL 360. Cherry-Evans would then be on 100% Footy two hours later to turn down the offer.
It would make for one of the most chaotic nights of the rugby league season, and would sprawl into a season long storyline before Cherry-Evans confirmed in November he would play on with the Roosters.
The initial reactions to Cherry-Evans TV exclusive were varied, with SEN’s Andrew Voss shocked by how the Sea Eagles could allow their halfback to reach a point where he wants to leave the club.
“It makes no logical sense,” Voss declared on SEN 1170 Breakfast in March.
“I’d be naming the Spit Bridge after him because of how much he has given to the club. He is that valuable.
“He is walking out on them and he sounds comfortable with it.
“He says that no sneaky offers have been made to him. He’s telling us that there’s no other offers but he’s walking out anyway. Is there any other take on it? There are offers. There has to be something because we are living in the real world.
“He is still a top four halfback in the game.
“I’m sorry but it makes no sense to me.”
Perth Bears announced as the 18th team
The NRL announced two new clubs in 2025, with the first to join the competition being the Perth Bears.
The Bears are slated to enter the NRL in 2027, meaning they can currently sign players for their inaugural side.
While the expansion is exciting for the game, the initial signings have prompted concerns and criticisms over the side’s potential success, and has followed the Bears since November 1.
To date, the Bears have officially signed seven players, but SEN’s Chad Townsend remains worried about the club’s competitiveness in year 1 without a marquee player.
“We still need to see a big fish, Perth really do need to make a play,” he added.
“And I’m sure they are in the background, but we probably need to see a star representative player be the face of that franchise.
“And what an opportunity, right? You get the chance to have a really low number for the Perth Bears, your player number.
“But just to be the face of the franchise and have everything based around you, it is a great opportunity for players to go over there.”
Reece Walsh's insane finals form
Reece Walsh’s 2025 finals series will be remembered years down the line as one of the most dominant runs of form seen by any player.
Starting in their Round 24 win over The Dolphins, elevated by a viral toilet water drinking video in Round 27 that has risen from controversy to legend, and punctuated to arguably the greatest grand final performance of all time, Walsh’s run will go down in folklore.
It was dominance widely praised by pundits and fans, as SEN’s Bryan Fletcher declared after the grand final that without Walsh, the Broncos had no chance of winning their fairytale premiership.
“You don’t often say this, it’s a team game, but you always have a superstar in your team that can get you out of trouble,” Fletcher explained in October.
“The rest of those Broncos players should be thanking him for the rest of their lives.
“If he doesn’t play, and we can sometimes say this, but if he doesn’t play, they get absolutely lapped.”
Doubt mounts around the newly announced PNG Chiefs
Along with the announcement of the Perth Bears, the NRL also announced the inclusion of the PNG Chiefs from 2028.
Much like the Bears, concerns over PNG’s ability to attract players were prominent.
Talks around players and their families living in a ‘compound’ or village in PNG raised safety concerns, and the government’s assured funding, in conjunction with the PNG Government, raised worries around the longevity of the side.
NRL great Greg Alexander still had these concerns after the Prime Minister’s XIII game in October.
“The PNG Chiefs will be the team that comes into the NRL in 2028, or will they?,” Alexander said two months ago.
“I was watching the game on Sunday, and I was thinking to myself, are we really going to be having a team in Papua New Guinea?
“The bigger problem is who is going there? Who is going to live in PNG to play rugby out there?
“It’d be interesting to take a straw poll on some of the players that were there over the weekend. You have just played in PNG, would you then live there to play for the team?”
