Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Leo Thompson Settles In Knights Forward Pack
Prior to last season, Leo Thompson made a shift from Raiders to Knights which saw him make his NRL debut in the first round. Now he is one of the busiest Knights forwards. The Napier Marist junior returned to Aotearoa with Knights for their round tahi fixture against Warriors and Thompson played 41 minutes coming off the bench, after playing 40+ minutes in just one of his 16 games last season.
That has been parlayed into six consecutive starts for Thompson and he has not only settled into a starting role, he has churned out 50+ minutes in five of these six games. More minutes means more mahi and after round seven, 22-year-old Thompson is ranked 12th for tackles across all players. Thompson has three more tackles than Lachlan Fitzgibbon and in his second season of NRL, Thompson is the busiest tackler for Knights.
There appears to be clarity in Thompson's role as a starting prop with coach Adam O'Brien tweaking the Knights forward pack. Thomspon had previously flashed slick passing from his rugby union skillset but his mahi now revolves around running hard and being heavily involved in Knights defence.
Jack Johns and Matt Croker have been deployed as hard-working locks who have funky skills. Knights sent David Klemmer to Tigers in return for Jackson Hastings and also lost Mitchell Barnett, Sauaso Sue and Pasami Saulo prior to the season which opened up more opportunities for Thompson. While things may not be this simple, Thompson is shining in Klemmer's role and Knights haven't lost much in the process.
Daniel Saifiti is averaging 55.3mins and 140m per game this season. Thompson's 51.6mins is next best for Knights middle forwards and while Thompson is only averaging 79m/game, Thompson does more tackling. Thompson averages 37.6 tackles per game and Saifiti averages 28.4 which highlights their complimentary roles.
How this flows during the season will be interesting as Jacob Saifiti and Adam Elliott haven't played much footy so far. Thompson is playing big minutes in winning pocket for Knights which will count for something, plus Thompson will be available during the State of Origin window.
Thompson has already represented Aotearoa Maori and a Kiwis call up won't be far away. The mid-year fixture vs Tonga last season saw Jordan Riki and Griffin Neame earn squad selection, now Thompson is one of many youngsters from Aotearoa entering the mixer. Kiwis coach Michael Maguire has all sorts of powerful forwards to select from and Thompson's consistently gritty footy would fit snug around the senior big boppers.
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