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Thread: Luke Thompson

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    Quote Originally Posted by barry View Post
    We aren't going to get 50M for Thompson though. We'd get a couple of hundred thousand tops that you can't even spend on new players wages due to the Salary Cap. I'd guess that over 90% of player movement is done for free at the end of contracts. I doubt Saints wouldn't have offered him a new deal, its up to Thompson if he stays or goes. Power is with players and with the difference between caps and Thompsons reputation I bet he isn't going over there for peanuts either.

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    You are spot on regards player power.

    With the chasm in earning potential in the NRL, the only way that you will stop the best players leaving is to ban them from international selection like England Rugby Union do, which I think had something to do with the stupid money the likes of Toulon were offering to overseas stars

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    Quote Originally Posted by barry View Post
    We aren't going to get 50M for Thompson though. We'd get a couple of hundred thousand tops that you can't even spend on new players wages due to the Salary Cap. I'd guess that over 90% of player movement is done for free at the end of contracts. I doubt Saints wouldn't have offered him a new deal, its up to Thompson if he stays or goes. Power is with players and with the difference between caps and Thompsons reputation I bet he isn't going over there for peanuts either.

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    I would think the Power is with the agents some would use the dark arts to send the player down different routes. Martin Offiah with Eastmond was an example who somehow convinced him not too consider the club loyalty scenario and just go for highest bidder moneywise. My gut feeling with Thompson though is it is more about stepping up further and proving himself in the NRL, I wouldn't be surprised if he has discussed in detail with Jammer the positives and negatives, its a risk worth taking and he must be self aware of his capability that he is not so much a work in progress in the way Joe Greenwood was when he went over to the NRL.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Reacher View Post
    It happens in football all the time. Players sign new contracts knowing full well they will still be sold. It protects a decent fee and stops them going on a free.

    If the Bulldogs really wanted him they would have paid a fee. Yes we get him for another season but we’ve had him for over 10 years and are letting him go more or less at his peak and literally get nothing back financially. I don’t think that’s great at all.


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    I'm with you on this one, it's absolute madness that he will be seeing out his contract and we won't be getting a penny for him. Crazy!

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    Quote Originally Posted by OoOGazOoO View Post
    I'm with you on this one, it's absolute madness that he will be seeing out his contract and we won't be getting a penny for him. Crazy!
    Me as well. I think Reacher is bang on the money

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    I cannot believe that Saints simply allowed the contract to lapse due to carelessness. We announced a few contract extensions last year but Thompson was noticeable by his absence. I imagine that we tried to tie him down but failed.

    That left us with two options:

    1. Keep Thompson for 2020, let his contract run down and not get a transfer fee. Or

    2. Sell him at the end of 2019 and recover a transfer fee, and lose him for this year.

    Which we would prefer? Bearing in mind the transfer fee would be less with only 12 months of a contract to run as some Australian clubs may have preferred to let the contract run to avoid a transfer fee.

    I'd rather have him for one more year, he's that important for the team. We have in effect paid a surplus to keep him for 2020 and I'd rather that than have a Thompson-sized hole this year.

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    A lot of people seem to be critical of the club for not giving him a Liverpool/Wigan-esque 'we'll sell you in 12 months, here's a pay rise, lets have a good final 12 months' contract. That is a good option because it secures a transfer fee for the club. But the player and his agent will want to be rewarded for taking that risk. The fee might potentially put the NRL club off so the player will want to be paid handsomely for taking that risk. In a restrictively salary capped sport like ours, it might not be possible to do that to an extent where it become acceptable for the player.

    What Saints need to do now as a priority is secure longer contracts for Morgan Knowles, Matty Lees and Jack Ashworth and ensure that the likes of Welsby and Dodd are contracted for at least three years.

    What Eammon needs to be doing as a priority is getting stuck into securing additional salary cap exemptions for home grown players. I'd argue there shouldn't be a cap impact of home grown players from your own service area. That would encourage clubs to invest in their youth system but also give them the chance to keep hold of them. Expansion clubs could maybe be given a higher overall cap aswell to address that not being fair on them. I made a point about a month ago that it could well become literally pointless developing players ourselves if all the half decent ones move to the NRL. It's possible we could lose Knowles, Lees and Dodd before they sign another contract with us. If that happens it levels the playing field completely and makes spending money on developing academy players a complete waste as we might as well be using it to pay transfer fees to bring players in.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Saddened! View Post
    A lot of people seem to be critical of the club for not giving him a Liverpool/Wigan-esque 'we'll sell you in 12 months, here's a pay rise, lets have a good final 12 months' contract. That is a good option because it secures a transfer fee for the club. But the player and his agent will want to be rewarded for taking that risk. The fee might potentially put the NRL club off so the player will want to be paid handsomely for taking that risk. In a restrictively salary capped sport like ours, it might not be possible to do that to an extent where it become acceptable for the player.

    What Saints need to do now as a priority is secure longer contracts for Morgan Knowles, Matty Lees and Jack Ashworth and ensure that the likes of Welsby and Dodd are contracted for at least three years.

    What Eammon needs to be doing as a priority is getting stuck into securing additional salary cap exemptions for home grown players. I'd argue there shouldn't be a cap impact of home grown players from your own service area. That would encourage clubs to invest in their youth system but also give them the chance to keep hold of them. Expansion clubs could maybe be given a higher overall cap aswell to address that not being fair on them. I made a point about a month ago that it could well become literally pointless developing players ourselves if all the half decent ones move to the NRL. It's possible we could lose Knowles, Lees and Dodd before they sign another contract with us. If that happens it levels the playing field completely and makes spending money on developing academy players a complete waste as we might as well be using it to pay transfer fees to bring players in.
    Agree in the main , disagree to a degree.

    The only thing the club need to do is not panic.

    There are worse problems to have like having having Perry or Hohaia
    still on the books with years to run on their contracts.

    NRL Clubs waste their cap and are always looking to subsidise
    a good player they need to move on. There will be opportunities
    and players that want to come to the uk.

    Shop around and recruit / retain wisely.

    Agents for other players will be knocking on the door with tales of interest from NRL.
    After all Cronulla were after Wheeler and Saints needed to act fast.

    Sign up Lees , Ashworth and Dodd but don't overpay. Pay well but don't
    skew the balance of the squad and the cap.

    Saints is a great club and they look after players well. Players and agents would do to
    remember that.

    In this industry there are only 28 employers worldwide and 12 in this country.
    Saints are one of the picks in the uk.

    Everyone is a disappointed at Thompson going but this should now be seen as opportunity
    rather than a need to panic.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ralph Fridge View Post
    You are spot on regards player power.

    With the chasm in earning potential in the NRL, the only way that you will stop the best players leaving is to ban them from international selection like England Rugby Union do, which I think had something to do with the stupid money the likes of Toulon were offering to overseas stars
    Widely reported in the Australian Press including Sydney Morning Herald that he has signed a three year contract for 800 hundred thousand dollars a year (about £430.000 a year) I have no idea whether that is true but it is in the same article where Holbrook when asked described him as the best prop in Superleague. Sadly any thought we could compete with that is just out of the window. I suspect that Saints knew that , and are just keeping their powder dry to pay big money for a replacement in due course at the end of the season and possibly have one already lined up. Sadly we have to face the fact that we are in the second tier of Rugby League in this country with regards to salary

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    Quote Originally Posted by Woolyback View Post
    Widely reported in the Australian Press including Sydney Morning Herald that he has signed a three year contract for 800 hundred thousand dollars a year (about £430.000 a year) I have no idea whether that is true but it is in the same article where Holbrook when asked described him as the best prop in Superleague. Sadly any thought we could compete with that is just out of the window. I suspect that Saints knew that , and are just keeping their powder dry to pay big money for a replacement in due course at the end of the season and possibly have one already lined up
    I fear we'll end up whopping a big salary on Jammer for next year.

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    Bulldog fans seem to think that Graham may eventually be joining their coaching staff and had a big influence in Thompson signing for them. Much as we all thought of him I don't think he could go around again with us, he's had a tough career over there.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RV12 View Post
    I cannot believe that Saints simply allowed the contract to lapse due to carelessness. We announced a few contract extensions last year but Thompson was noticeable by his absence. I imagine that we tried to tie him down but failed.

    That left us with two options:

    1. Keep Thompson for 2020, let his contract run down and not get a transfer fee. Or

    2. Sell him at the end of 2019 and recover a transfer fee, and lose him for this year.

    Which we would prefer? Bearing in mind the transfer fee would be less with only 12 months of a contract to run as some Australian clubs may have preferred to let the contract run to avoid a transfer fee.

    I'd rather have him for one more year, he's that important for the team. We have in effect paid a surplus to keep him for 2020 and I'd rather that than have a Thompson-sized hole this year.

    I agree completely.

    Any fee we got for him would be relatively small, probably sub-£100k. Over the past couple of years, we've built up a massive head of steam, with the GF victory last October being a sort of end-of-phase-one. We carry this over into this season with the same personnel and aim to clean-sweep to put this side into the sort of 'legendary' pantheon that some of our previous sides have reached. It attracts commercial revenues, added supporters, gives us a media profile boost - and, of course, prize money.

    We sell Thompson over the closed season and we put that in jeopardy, especially with an apparent paucity of quality props available this year.

    I'd rather he helps us win the lot this year and put us back up there as the undisputed No1 club in British RL.

    (then comes back to us for the 2024 season at the ripe old age of 28, to replace Andrew Fifita who retires after a great and medal-laden 3-year stint here)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Woolyback View Post
    Bulldog fans seem to think that Graham may eventually be joining their coaching staff and had a big influence in Thompson signing for them. Much as we all thought of him I don't think he could go around again with us, he's had a tough career over there.
    Agreed. And I'd rather remember him as the elite player he was here, than have those memories tarnished by the frustration of seeing him as a shadow of his former self.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Woolyback View Post
    Bulldog fans seem to think that Graham may eventually be joining their coaching staff and had a big influence in Thompson signing for them. Much as we all thought of him I don't think he could go around again with us, he's had a tough career over there.
    Jammer also comes across well and is popular on TV shows.

    As for Thompsons $800,000 per season, i am sure there would be incentives also such as finals appearances, player bonus levels and sponsorships to take that higher.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RV12 View Post
    I cannot believe that Saints simply allowed the contract to lapse due to carelessness. We announced a few contract extensions last year but Thompson was noticeable by his absence. I imagine that we tried to tie him down but failed.

    That left us with two options:

    1. Keep Thompson for 2020, let his contract run down and not get a transfer fee. Or

    2. Sell him at the end of 2019 and recover a transfer fee, and lose him for this year.

    Which we would prefer? Bearing in mind the transfer fee would be less with only 12 months of a contract to run as some Australian clubs may have preferred to let the contract run to avoid a transfer fee.

    I'd rather have him for one more year, he's that important for the team. We have in effect paid a surplus to keep him for 2020 and I'd rather that than have a Thompson-sized hole this year.
    But when you put it like that, I see the other side of the argument too.

    As much as they'll never admit it, they know our best forwards are top quality & they keep poaching them

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    Quote Originally Posted by Ex Parrer View Post
    Jammer also comes across well and is popular on TV shows.

    As for Thompsons $800,000 per season, i am sure there would be incentives also such as finals appearances, player bonus levels and sponsorships to take that higher.
    Yep. Very good money.

    Although I am disappointed, in his situation, I'd be off as well

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    Yeh I heard last week that it was 100k for signing on, 750k 1st year, 775k 2nd year, 800k 3rd year plus 100k in sponsorships, car, apartment etc.

    Very good package for an "unknown" brit.

    Also, people need to lay off the club. Thompson is a person, not an inanimate object that they can do with as they please. They can offer him the best deal possible (which I'm sure they did), but if he doesn't want to sign, he wont sign. That simple. They literally cannot do a thing. It isn't bad business if no matter what you do, the other party won't agree a deal at all.

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    Quote Originally Posted by RV12 View Post
    I cannot believe that Saints simply allowed the contract to lapse due to carelessness. We announced a few contract extensions last year but Thompson was noticeable by his absence. I imagine that we tried to tie him down but failed.

    That left us with two options:

    1. Keep Thompson for 2020, let his contract run down and not get a transfer fee. Or

    2. Sell him at the end of 2019 and recover a transfer fee, and lose him for this year.

    Which we would prefer? Bearing in mind the transfer fee would be less with only 12 months of a contract to run as some Australian clubs may have preferred to let the contract run to avoid a transfer fee.

    I'd rather have him for one more year, he's that important for the team. We have in effect paid a surplus to keep him for 2020 and I'd rather that than have a Thompson-sized hole this year.
    "The club did everything in their power to keep him", that was the quote from LMS. It is probably a similar scenario to when Walmsley looked like he was off to the NRL but big Al had an issue of leaving his family, maybe Thompson had a straight forward decision.

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    Does Thompson have a wife/partner? Kids?

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    I would much rather let a player go for free at the end of a contract, than take a fee and send the message to anyone who wants to give it a crack that all contracts are flexible.

    In some ways it couldn’t have happened in a better year. We have a large number of big earners who aren’t ... integral to the way we play, and whilst it’s a blow to lose Thompson, I still think with a good recruitment year we can end up better off overall...

    I: Currie, A Fifita, D Fifita
    O: Thompson, Amor, Taia, Paulo

    I can dream ��

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    Quote Originally Posted by magic superbeetle View Post
    I would much rather let a player go for free at the end of a contract, than take a fee and send the message to anyone who wants to give it a crack that all contracts are flexible.

    In some ways it couldn’t have happened in a better year. We have a large number of big earners who aren’t ... integral to the way we play, and whilst it’s a blow to lose Thompson, I still think with a good recruitment year we can end up better off overall...

    I: Currie, A Fifita, D Fifita
    O: Thompson, Amor, Taia, Paulo

    I can dream ��
    Currie is a shadow of the player he was. I wouldn't touch him.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Blobbynator View Post
    Currie is a shadow of the player he was. I wouldn't touch him.
    Agreed, if he wasn’t then I doubt we would even stand a chance.

    It’s a gamble that I think we can afford to take with Bentley chomping on the edge of first team.

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    The main thing is for neither the club nor fans to panic about Thompson’s departure and hope that recruitment is a considered process. History tells us that it is not impossible to lose a top player and replace him with someone who doesn’t appear to be box office but who turns out to be an even better option (Barba/Coote. Greenwood/Taia). We might not be able to quite achieve that with Thompson’s replacement but, given that we have time to look around and have Woolf’s insight into the NRL, there’s no reason why we should end up with another Perry/Hohaia/Lanfranchi.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Woolyback View Post
    Bulldog fans seem to think that Graham may eventually be joining their coaching staff and had a big influence in Thompson signing for them. Much as we all thought of him I don't think he could go around again with us, he's had a tough career over there.
    Yer that's the current talk at the moment with James to retire at the end of 2020 and he will be brought into the club on the coaching staff

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    Quote Originally Posted by magic superbeetle View Post
    I would much rather let a player go for free at the end of a contract, than take a fee and send the message to anyone who wants to give it a crack that all contracts are flexible.

    In some ways it couldn’t have happened in a better year. We have a large number of big earners who aren’t ... integral to the way we play, and whilst it’s a blow to lose Thompson, I still think with a good recruitment year we can end up better off overall...

    I: Currie, A Fifita, D Fifita
    O: Thompson, Amor, Taia, Paulo

    I can dream ��
    I certainly think we’ll see a few new faces next year, particularly in the forwards. Rush has already spoken about making multiple signings and that was before the Thompson news broke.

    So I agree that whilst it’s sad he’s leaving it at least comes at a time when we have money to spend and we’re probably already actively looking for signings anyway.

    It’s also good that the decision has been made in Feb and the club now have the next 6 months or so to identify and hopefully sign an adequate replacement.
    NEVER WRITE OFF THE SAINTS

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    Quote Originally Posted by EddieVonEagle View Post
    Yeh I heard last week that it was 100k for signing on, 750k 1st year, 775k 2nd year, 800k 3rd year plus 100k in sponsorships, car, apartment etc.

    Very good package for an "unknown" brit.

    Also, people need to lay off the club. Thompson is a person, not an inanimate object that they can do with as they please. They can offer him the best deal possible (which I'm sure they did), but if he doesn't want to sign, he wont sign. That simple. They literally cannot do a thing. It isn't bad business if no matter what you do, the other party won't agree a deal at all.

    Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk
    It has previously been suggested that he comes from a wealthy background so money may not be everything. He may fancy trying a different climate, a different lifestyle, the challenge of a new competition and a different level of fame in a country mad on sport and where Rugby League is a headline grabber.

    You’re right about the club though. I’m sure they did their best within salary cap constraints.

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