Thompson signing a ‘bonus’ for the Rhinos, says Agar

Leeds Rhinos head coach Richard Agar expects new signing Bodene Thompson to have an immediate impact when he makes his debut against Wigan on Sunday.

Thompson completed his move to the eight-time Super League champions this week after his previous club, Toronto Wolfpack, withdrew from the 2020 season.

The 32-year-old brings a wealth of experience to Headingley having played for the likes of for Wests Tigers, New Zealand Warriors and Warrington Wolves, amassing around 200 career games.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference about the Rhinos new signing, Agar said: “He has played with several members of our squad elsewhere so it has been great to see him familiarise himself with them once again.

“Bodene is an experienced player. He looks comfortable and certainly knows his way around the field.

“Initially, we were not actively looking at adding to our squad but we have not had the best luck with injuries since restarting.”

The Rhinos were particularly light in the back-row prior to Thompson’s signing, an area which was exploited by St Helens last weekend.

“We still have Alex Mellor, James Donaldson and Stevie Ward out for several weeks,” Agar explained.

“I thought our squad was becoming a bit light on experience and so I thought adding Bodene was a bonus.

“You look at the fixtures and they are going to come thick and fast over the next few weeks so I thought adding such an experienced and influential player was a bonus for us at this moment in time.”