Canterbury will roll the dice on their best start to a season in 23 years, hoping to repeat history and make Lachlan Galvin the missing piece of a premiership puzzle.
Bulldogs officials expect to have a clearer picture on the Galvin situation this week, after the Wests Tigers' teenage prodigy decided Canterbury was his club of choice.
It remains possible the playmaker could be in Bulldogs colours next week, if a six-figure transfer fee can be agreed to get Galvin out of the last 17 months of his deal.
That would allow the 19-year-old to take the field for the Bulldogs on June 9, against a Parramatta side he also met with last week.
If a deal can be brokered, Galvin's move would represent one of the biggest mid-season transfers in history.
Parramatta commanded headlines in 2017 when they got Mitchell Moses out of the Tigers early, on the way to that year's preliminary final.
But the Eels were ninth on the ladder when they signed Moses, rather than in first place like Canterbury are now.
Penrith also made use of a COVID-enforced loophole in 2021 when they signed Tevita Pangai Junior for three months on his way from Brisbane to the Bulldogs.
Canterbury, meanwhile, have a history of making mid-season moves work.
The effort to lure Rod Silva from the Sydney Roosters in 1995 was crucial in that year's run to the premiership, with Silva the club's long-needed answer at No.1.
History almost repeated in 2012 when the Bulldogs brought in Sam Perrett and Krisnan Inu, with Inu in particular starring on the run to that year's grand final.
The Galvin switch is not as simple, and there are questions over whether it has the potential to destabilise the Bulldogs.
While Canterbury had holes at fullback in 1995 and out wide in 2012, there are no obvious gaps in this year's team.
Halfback Toby Sexton has a 61 per cent win rate in the Canterbury No.7 jersey, but remains uncontracted beyond this year.
The 24-year-old has so far attempted to block out talk about his future, but that noise will only grow louder once Galvin arrives.
One option for coach Cameron Ciraldo would be to partner Galvin and Matt Burton in the halves, but that would be a tough call on Sexton after the club's 9-2 start.
Another option could be to play Galvin off the bench or at lock initially, in a move that would help ease the Bulldogs' back-row shortage.
Burton has also played centre at Penrith and the option of fullback has been suggested in recent days, allowing Galvin to partner with Sexton.
But questions would then linger over the futures of Bronson Xerri or Connor Tracey, with the latter having collected more Dally M points than any Bulldog this year.
The other quandary for Canterbury is what Galvin's arrival means for fellow 19-year-old Mitchell Woods, who has long been viewed as the Bulldogs' future No.7.
