Thompson leaving St Helens to beef up Bulldogs pack
Author
Dan WalshNRL.com Reporter
Timestamp
Tue 4 Feb 2020, 06:09 AM
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St Helens have announced highly rated English prop Luke Thompson will be heading to the NRL in 2021 to beef up the Canterbury pack.
The Bulldogs, who are yet to make an official announcement regarding Thompson's signing, have trumped several NRL suitors including the Warriors, Titans as well as St Helens to secure the 24-year-old.
He will see out the final year of his contract with the Super League club before moving to Australia next season.
St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus confirmed his club’s “bitter disappointment” at losing Thompson in the early hours of Tuesday morning AEDT.
His signature is a coup for the Dogs given their recent years of salary cap hardships.
The Bulldogs have farewelled representative props David Klemmer, James Graham and Aaron Woods in recent years as it reshaped a roster hamstrung by back-ended contracts.
Thompson will pack down alongside another representative prop in Dylan Napa from next season.
St Helens also came to the table with a lucrative offer to keep Thompson at his junior club, but were trumped by the Bulldogs' lucrative offer and the lure of proving himself in the NRL.
SBW returns to rugby league
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Dumped English coach Wayne Bennett is also a fan after handing him his Test debut in 2018, while new Titans mentor Justin Holbrook pursued Thompson having coached him at St Helens as recently as last year’s Super League premiership-winning campaign.
It has been suggested Canterbury could secure Thompson for 2020 by paying a transfer fee which would not come under their salary cap for the coming season.
But it’s understood the Bulldogs do not have the salary cap space to fit Thompson in this year, and St Helens appear loath to release a key player as they bid to defend their Super League title.
“We were informed last week that Luke has decided to join Canterbury Bulldogs next season,”
McManus said in a club statement.
“We accept and totally respect Luke’s decision and wish him nothing but success in his career and in his life.
“We are absolutely sure that he will be absolutely sure that he will be absolutely committed to the club and his teammates for the rest of this season.
“There’s no hiding from the fact that this is a bitter disappointment to all of us as Luke has been connected to the club since the age of 11 and has developed into an absolute top player at 24 years old.
“If ever he decides to return to England and to Super League then there would be a red carpet waiting for him at St Helens.”
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