The Kiwi-NRL season got underway with the first debutant of 2022 Leo Thompson coming off the bench for Newcastle Knights in their win over Roosters. In 25 minutes of footy, Thompson showcased powerful mahi through the Knights’ middle with 7 runs for 71m @ 10.14m/run and making 12 tackles without a miss.

In this interview prior to the game, there was a note about Thompson's passing ability which probably stems from his days playing in the Napier Boys High School 1st 15 midfield. Thompson only had two official passes but in whipping a 10m spiral pass to his outside men, Thompson's debut featured a low key skillset that is worth keeping tabs on.

🎥 From Hawkes Bay to Evans Bay. Former Napier Boys High standouts Tyrone and Leo Thompson are getting stuck in at Marist St Pats and have a message players making the move to Wellington 🔥 #RedMachine pic.twitter.com/geuVQlUGdR
— Marist St Pats Rugby 🏉 (@msprugby) February 5, 2019

🔪 With the team rumbling up the field from halfway, Leo Thompson slices through two defenders and finds his way under the posts #TryTimeTuesday #RedMachine pic.twitter.com/DCaoCbg2pK
— Marist St Pats Rugby 🏉 (@msprugby) June 4, 2019

Thompson and his twin brother Tyrone (now with Chiefs) impressed for NBHS, before moving down to Wellington to play club rugby for Marist Saints Pats. These lads enjoyed successful campaigns in their last year of 1st 15 footy before moving into club rugby for 2019, then Leo was recruited by Canberra Raiders and quickly climbed through the Raiders ranks. Thompson played 12 games of reserve grade in 2021, then came a move to Knights over the summer.

Raiders have a hefty Kiwi-NRL contingent, featuring many 1st 15 rugby juniors such as Thompson. The Raiders recruited Thompson and then watched him progress in rugby league, so why would they let Thompson depart? NRL footy was likely the lure for Thompson and while that was probably laid out for Thompson, he still needed a hearty summer training period to impress.

Round tahi swings around and Thompson looked comfy at the NRL level. Thompson's emergence has come at the expense of St Paul's College junior Jirah Momoisea who made his debut last year and played 5mins off the bench vs Roosters. They are different types of forwards though and maybe Thompson's more robust, dynamic style was required. This does concentrate the Knights Kiwi-NRL funk to these forwards and in a rugged Knights pack, two young lads from Aotearoa are lurking for minutes.

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