Luke Thompson (rugby league)

Luke Thompson (born 27 April 1995) is an English professional rugby league footballer, who plays as prop and loose forward for Wigan Warriors in the Super League, and for England and Great Britain at international level.

Luke Thompson
Personal information
Born (1995-04-27) 27 April 1995
Higher End, Billinge, Greater Manchester, England
Height181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight119 kg (18 st 10 lb)
Playing information
PositionProp, Loose forward
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2013–20 St Helens 163 28 0 0 112
2015(loan) → Rochdale Hornets 1 0 0 0 0
2020–23 Canterbury Bulldogs 42 3 0 0 12
2024– Wigan Warriors 0 0 0 0 0
Total 206 31 0 0 124
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2018–22 England 7 2 0 0 8
2019 Great Britain 3 0 0 0 0
Source: [1][2]
As of 8 October 2023

He has played his most of his professional career to date for St Helens, with whom he won the 2014 Super League Grand Final. He has also spent time on loan from Saints at the Rochdale Hornets in the Championship 1.

Background

Thompson was born in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England.

Career

Thompson had been at [St Helens R.F.C.|St Helens]] since he was 11 (signing from Bold Miners).

2013

Thompson made his Super League debut during the 2013 season in the Saints' 21-14 round 9 loss against the London Broncos. On 27th September, Thompson's contract was extended by 2 years.[3] Thompson played 7 games for St Helens and scored 3 tries.

2014

In Round 21 of the 2014 Super League season, Thompson scored a try in the Saints' 58-16 win over the London Broncos.[4] St Helens reached the 2014 Super League Grand Final and Thompson was selected to play from the interchange bench in their 14-6 victory over the Wigan Warriors at Old Trafford.[5][6][7][8] Thompson played 17 games for St Helens and scored a try.

2015

Thompson played 20 games for St Helens during the 2015 Super League season, including their Super 8s campaign.

2016

Thompson continued playing with St Helens during the 2016 Super League season, including their 10-18 semi-final loss to Warrington Wolves.[9] He finished the year playing 23 games and scoring 2 tries.

2017

Thompson played in St Helens' 22-23 semi-final loss to Castleford Tigers.[10] He finished the year with 27 games and 2 tries.

2018

In 2018, Thompson had one of his best years yet, playing 32 games and scoring 6 tries. He played in St Helens' 13-18 loss to Warrington.[11]

2019

He played in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final defeat to the Warrington Wolves at Wembley Stadium.[12] He played in the 2019 Super League Grand Final victory over the Salford Red Devils at Old Trafford.[13][14][15]

2020

On 4 February, it was announced Thompson had signed a three-year deal with Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League (NRL).[16] Thompson made the move to Australia in June. He completed two weeks of isolation on his arrival in Australia before his first game for the Canterbury-Bankstown club.[17]

Thompson made his debut for the Bulldogs against the Brisbane Broncos in round 9 of the 2020 NRL season. In round 20 of the 2020 NRL season, Thompson was placed on report for reportedly eye gouging one of the Penrith players during Canterbury's 42-0 loss. Thompson was later suspended for four matches after being found guilty.[18] Thompson made 10 appearances for Canterbury in the 2020 NRL season as the club narrowly avoided the wooden spoon finishing 15th on the table.[19]

2021

In round 5 of the 2021 NRL season, Thompson scored his first try for Canterbury in a 52-18 loss against Melbourne. This try ended Canterbury's scoreless streak of over 240 minutes of play, as they had failed to score in their previous three games.[20]

In round 19 of the 2021 NRL season, Thompson scored another try but was subsequently sent to the sin bin during Canterbury's 44-24 loss to Cronulla-Sutherland. As a result of the sin binning incident, Thompson received a three-match ban on 27 July 2021.[21][22]

Throughout the 2021 NRL season Thompson made a total of 15 appearances for Canterbury. However, the club finished last in the season and were awarded the Wooden Spoon.[23]

2022

Thompson played a total of 13 matches for Canterbury in the 2022 NRL season as the club finished 12th on the table.[24]

2023

On the 28 February, Thompson injured his ankle at training, and was assisted off the field. Canterbury general manager Phil Gould later revealed that the injury was quite serious, and initial prognosis was minimum 6 months recovery.[25][26][27] Thompson made his return on 28 July off the bench in Round 22 of the NSW Cup season, making 10 runs for 103 metres.[28] On 4 October, Thompson signed a four-year deal to join English side Wigan ahead of the 2024 season.[29]

International career

In 2018 he was selected for England against France at the Leigh Sports Village.[30]

He was selected in squad for the 2019 Great Britain Lions tour of the Southern Hemisphere.[31] He made his Great Britain test debut in the defeat to Tonga.[32]

References
  1. loverugbyleague
  2. RLP
  3. test (27 September 2013). "Saints looking to the future". LoveRugbyLeague. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  4. "Super League XIX 2014 - Week 21 - London Broncos 16 lost to St Helens 58". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  5. "St Helens 14 Wigan Warriors 6: Moment of madness from Wales international Ben Flower costs Wigan dear". Daily Telegraph. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  6. "St Helens win Grand Final after Wigan's Ben Flower is sent off". Guardian. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  7. "St Helens 14–6 Wigan Warriors". BBC Sport. 11 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  8. Cartwright, Phil (11 October 2014). "St Helens v Wigan as it happened". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
  9. "Super League XXI 2016 - Semi Final - Warrington Wolves 18 def. St Helens 10". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  10. "Super League XXII 2017 - Semi Final - Castleford Tigers 23 def. St Helens 22". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  11. "Super League XXIII 2018 - Semi Final - St Helens 13 lost to Warrington Wolves 18". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  12. "St Helens 4-18 Warrington RESULT: Challenge Cup Final as it happened from Wembley". Mirror. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  13. "St Helens give Justin Holbrook the perfect send-off with commanding Grand Final victory over Salford". Telegraph. 12 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  14. Unwin, Will (12 October 2019). "St Helens 23-6 Salford Red Devils: Super League Grand Final – as it happened". The Guardian.
  15. "St Helens win 2019 Super League League Leaders' shield". Sky Sports.
  16. "Bulldogs sign star English International forward Luke Thompson for three years". Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. 3 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  17. Luke Thompson training in isolation, retrieved 28 February 2023
  18. "Thompson cops four-week ban for eye gouge; King three for hip drop". www.nrl.com.
  19. "Dogs confirm EIGHT-man clean-out in first glimpse of Barrett era". www.foxsports.com.au. 22 September 2020.
  20. "Bellamy wants more from Storm after Bulldogs romp". www.nrl.com. 10 April 2021.
  21. "Cronulla Sharks beat Canterbury Bulldogs 44-24, Gold Coast Titans down St George Illawarra Dragons 32-10". ABC News. 25 July 2021.
  22. "Luke Thompson hit with ban". www.foxsports.com.au. 27 July 2021.
  23. "Canterbury Bulldogs set to sign Rabbitohs star Braidon Burns, Storm prop Max King for 2022 NRL season". wwos.nine.com.au.
  24. "NRL 2022: Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs season review". www.sportingnews.com.
  25. "Grim update on $800k star after 'serious' injury". wwos.nine.com.au. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  26. Gould, Phil [@PhilGould15] (28 February 2023). "Unfortunately Luke Thompson's injury is quite serious. Prognosis is for minimum 6 months recovery. Possibly longer depending on surgery type. Very sad for Luke and the club. Thunderbolts happen" (Tweet). Retrieved 28 February 2023 – via Twitter.
  27. "'Quite serious': Bulldogs' 'very sad' injury blow on eve of NRL season — Casualty Ward". www.foxsports.com.au.
  28. "Bulldogs v Roosters". New South Wales Rugby League. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  29. "Luke Thompson: Wigan Warriors sign England and ex-St Helens prop on four-year deal". www.bbc.co.uk.
  30. "Tom Johnstone marks debut with England hat-trick against France". Guardian. 17 October 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2019.
  31. "Zak Hardaker shock inclusion in 24-man Great Britain squad for tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea". Telegraph. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  32. "Great Britain left bruised at Tonga party". Times. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
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