News The Bulldogs have a huge problem on their hands with fears star recruit Luke Thompson could cut his NRL stint short.

[Actros]

Before he even arrived the biggest concern for me was he refused to take a pay cut in the UK while the rest of his team accepted it.

That attitude really had me worried about whether he was what we needed and if he would actually see out his time with us.

The pay cut was a smokescreen so St Helens would release him, Luke Thompson is no quitter, he’s been quite vocal since he had arrived at Belmore, he thought he was going to be walking into a well oiled machine, not one that was only running on 3 cylinders off the field aswell, hence 3 weeks later all the back room staff are fired !, including the man that has dropped him this week, he doesn’t need a rest just some direction, roll on next year

 

[Trafford10]

He’s not earning $800k in the next three years, he’s getting $75k more per year than he would have got if he had resigned with St Helens and when you factor in the living cost to live within our fantastic country, he’s broke even !, this year he has cost us his expenses, thankfully....

Mate the Super League salary cap is £2.1 million x 1.83 = $3.843 million AUD.

he's on $800k with us. That's equal to 20.8% of the Super League salary cap.
He will be earning much more than an extra $75k playing at Canterbury.

Money is not everything of course. But $800k x 3 to play a game you love would be considered living the dream by a lot of footballers.

 

[Trafford10]

The pay cut was a smokescreen so St Helens would release him, Luke Thompson is no quitter, he’s been quite vocal since he had arrived at Belmore, he thought he was going to be walking into a well oiled machine, not one that was only running on 3 cylinders off the field aswell, hence 3 weeks later all the back room staff are fired !, including the man that has dropped him this week, he doesn’t need a rest just some direction, roll on next year

Fair comment.

 

[Actros]

Mate the Super League salary cap is £2.1 million x 1.83 = $3.843 million AUD.

he's on $800k with us. That's equal to 20.8% of the Super League salary cap.
He will be earning much more than an extra $75k playing at Canterbury.

Money is not everything of course. But $800k x 3 to play a game you love would be considered living the dream by a lot of footballers.

Thompson deal at St Helens who are a wealthy club would have made him their marquee signing and possibly the highest paid in ESL, so effectively because he came through the academy from the age of 11, a large proportion of his salary would be outside the ESL pay cap
You only have to look at Bateman who has gone home for more money

 

[maltalian_dog]

Lol

 

[AlzzBulldog]

It’s no media beat up, it’s reflected in his on field performances; he’s homesick his girlfriend wasn’t allowed a visa, compounded by the horrendous culture at our Club now (mass sackings)compared to what he’s been used to...

Is mass sackings supposed to be a bad thing, fuck off

 

[maltalian_dog]

Another media beatup. Assholes make it sound like he is going to top himself in the headline. Guess they need a new punching bag now Seibold has gone.

Halfway through the article

"Asked if he feared Thompson wanted to go home permanently, Hill added: “No, I have been talking to him. He is committed."

St helens..That's in Qld

 

[Kempsey Dog]

How shit is our club... If the dude is alone in his apartment surely one of the boys can go around and hang out with him... Shit culture

 

[Kempsey Dog]

Hopefully he asks and is granted an immediate release and returns home, best thing for both him and the club.

Also wouldn't be surprised if this was another BS leak from the club to try and ease pressure and give another "reason" as to why our marquee recruit is looking like a massive FLOP.

I like the guy and want him to succeed, but if we could punt him and steal AFB, Leniu or some other big bopper I wouldn't be too upset

 

[DinkumDog]

How shit is our club... If the dude is alone in his apartment surely one of the boys can go around and hang out with him... Shit culture

They have the same restrictions:

Training -> Home
Game -> Home

That’s how the bubble works.
The difference is most of the other boys would have partners and/or kids at home, so easier on them.
Nothing to do with club culture.

 

[El Padrino]

 

[Actros]

Give me $700-$900k for 3 years and I’ll gladly leave my family behind knowing it would set my family up for years to come. This generation of players is too soft. He’s been here 7 weeks and already having a sook.

Mate he’s not here for the money, he loves Oz and it was always his dream to play in the NRL, so I am told...

 

[Family Guy]

This explains a lot. When you're not happy off the field, it affects your form on the field - it happens to all players.

Living alone, while being in the bubble, has to mess with your head - regardless of how much you earn. Surely there are other players living together - probably younger single guys - cant he just move in with them? I'm sure next year when his girlfriend gets here, Baz is in charge and we have a settled club, he'll finally be happy off the field and we'll see a huge improvement in form

Now onto the article itself.....it mentioned the Gold Coast were eying Thompson. Surely that has to be BS. After signing Fifita for $1.4M, having Taylor on $1M a year plus signing the gun storm forward, surely these c**** cant be interested in Thompson, while also reportedly being interested in C.Smith or B.Smith. Does having Meninga on the coaching staff mean these pricks have no cap?

If Thommo did want to head back home I would be OK with that too

 

[Chrisaaar]

I feel for the lad as it's hard enough moving to another country without this bubble situation.

To us it sounds like he's just having a whinge but it
could be having a massive toll on his mental health.

Fingers crossed we do what we do best as a club and support him.

 

[djdeep4172]

Let him go for over 700k better spent on a 6 or 7 or a 9
Let the surgery begin board

 

[the_insider]

And people bag out his form. Kudos to him doing what he’s doing. I know I couldn’t.

Really? How many kids leave their homes to try get a better education and have to work shitty part time jobs on the side just so they can afford food? How many blokes go off and work FIFO doing 70 hour weeks in the middle of the desert? How many navy personnel are stuck on a ship for months and months having to share a small cabin with 2-3 others? You make it sound like he's working 80 hour weeks for minimum wage.....
I mean I understand it must be tough but at the end of the day he's a very highly paid professional and he's not the only one doing it tough in 2020...

 

[2144superman]

If he leaves & Tolman not being offered a contract.
Who are some decent props we can sign?

James tamou and Jordan Maclean

 

[Dannyboi88]

Right in tine to help St. Helens win super league let him go was always gonna be tough for him but now we can go for tevita Pangai lol

 

[Nasheed]

Mate the Super League salary cap is £2.1 million x 1.83 = $3.843 million AUD.

he's on $800k with us. That's equal to 20.8% of the Super League salary cap.
He will be earning much more than an extra $75k playing at Canterbury.

Money is not everything of course. But $800k x 3 to play a game you love would be considered living the dream by a lot of footballers.

Marquee my man

im still shocked that so many ppl dont unferstand that two ESL players per squad can be paid outside the cap and only 150 is contributed to te cap.

its why my boi SBW was on 4.5 mil a year

 

[Actros]

Really? How many kids leave their homes to try get a better education and have to work shitty part time jobs on the side just so they can afford food? How many blokes go off and work FIFO doing 70 hour weeks in the middle of the desert? How many navy personnel are stuck on a ship for months and months having to share a small cabin with 2-3 others? You make it sound like he's working 80 hour weeks for minimum wage.....
I mean I understand it must be tough but at the end of the day he's a very highly paid professional and he's not the only one doing it tough in 2020...

I totally agree with your comment
I imagine that Thompson has had nothing to do with this press release and is not complaining about his current situation outside of the club more about what’s happening to him on the inside !