Latest update on Luke Thompson as huge move looms

Wigan Warriors, Leeds Rhinos, Warrington Wolves and St Helens have all been linked with Luke Thompson in recent years.

At the end of the 2010s, Thompson emerged as the best forward, maybe even the best player, in Super League.

This was helped along by Jamie Peacock’s retirement and Alex Walmsley’s neck injury but Thompson was incredible and won the Harry Sunderland Award in 2019.

The prop then made the move to the NRL with Canterbury Bulldogs in 2020 as the pandemic hit.

When he has played down under, he has been outstanding but he has been plagued by injuries and his latest injury has sparked speculation about a move.

This year he has been linked with Wigan but in an interesting twist St George Illawarra Dragons have now entered the race to sign the prop according to Sydney Morning Herald.

They claim Shane Flanagan has identified him as a major target and that they have even held a meeting and initial talks.

Now the Daily Telegraph has now reported that Flanagan is keen on completing the move for Thompson after these talks.

However, as these talks about a move do the rounds, it can be easy to forget that Thompson is injured and according to Canterbury chief he is still out indefinitely.

He said on social media last week:

“Thompson still looks indefinite. Cortisone injection last week to try and speed up process. Kikau had bad bout of pneumonia two weeks ago which put his recovery back a few weeks. It’s been one setback after another this year. May as well get all the bad luck out of the way now.”

Then this week, Gould confirmed that Thompson is nowhere near returning which means he could have played his last game for the Bulldogs.

This crushing blow has been confirmed with Gould reiterating this week that Thompson is out indefinitely which came as Gould confirmed Thompson’s recovery is a struggle.

A disappointing blow for Thompson and what this means for the prop moving forward and where he will play in 2024 remains to be seen.

St George are certainly in the mix but it is hard to ignore the reports around Wigan.