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James Graham devastated by Luke Thompson’s move to Wigan Warriors

The likes of Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves and St Helens have all been linked with a huge move for Luke Thompson since he moved to the NRL.

He has impressed at Canterbury Bulldogs except for when injuries have worked against him.

He is now set to join Wigan Warriors and the man who replaced him at St Helens in 2020 has had his say.

James Graham, who is a staff member at Canterbury, expressed his disappointment that Thompson is headed to Wigan.

He said on : “Sometimes there’s personal reasons why English lads go back but I am gutted he’s not going to be in the NRL and even more disappointed he will be wearing the Cherry and Whites.”

He had been linked with Sydney Roosters lately.

Channel 9 reporter Danny Weidler said on the Wide World of Sports: “This will probably get people scratching their head a little bit but Luke Thompson is telling people he would like to play for the Roosters for less.

“We’ve heard that story before. There’s been an approach that Thompson would like to go to the Roosters and he’s got an association with (incoming assistant coach) Justin Holbrook.

“I think there’s a couple of other clubs that would like Luke Thompson. I don’t know whether (Phil Gould’s) Dogs are still in with a chance of keeping him or if they even want him, I don’t know.

“I do know that Luke Thompson has been linked (to the Roosters), there was an approach to Nick Politis, the chairman of the Roosters.

“It’ll be interesting to see if that goes through. I don’t know how they fit him into the cap though.”

Recently Thompson spoke about his future and his injury.

“I could never write the year off,” Thompson said to the Daily Telegraph.

“Not playing this year never entered my mind. All year I’ve been trying to get back as soon as I could. My main focus was to get back and help the lads.

“It has taken longer than I hoped but it’ll be good to get back out there.

“I was back in the gym a week after surgery. You can’t train on your feet but you can do other stuff. I kept sitting in the team video sessions because I had to keep footy on my mind.

“Because as soon as I was ready to come back I had to be ready to go. It took longer than expected but all the hard work is going to pay off.”

When asked about his future, he said: “It’s a bit of a unique situation. I missed the back-end of last year and then played a World Cup. I came in ready for a big season and then I got injured.

“I know my values and what I bring to a club and team. For me it’s reminding people because I have not been there for a quite a while now. Injury can make you better or define you. I always have mindset to get it right.”

Last week, Thompson made a return to the reserves for Bulldogs.

“I felt really good,” Thompson said. “The foot felt good and my lungs were better than I expected. It gave me a lot of confidence. Straight away I could feel that everything I’d done was starting to pay me back.”

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