I bet him and his family are enjoying making a snowman this morning.
I'll bet training is a shock also (wait for Jan/feb).
perceptions can be amusing especially from children, A friend of ours returned to Liverpool in the 60s a few years after emigrating (her husband died suddenly), her children struggled to adjust in the UK (her youngest reckoned the sky was to low), so they returned.
Listened to a podcast he did with Nathan Mills (Saints Head Physio) the podcast is called "The Physio Spill". Its relatively new, he's only had a few guests on, one of which was James Graham which was a good listen.
Its clear that Thompson had a really challenging year with us, his wife was unbelievably homesick, he had lots of niggly, different injuries and he was turning to drink quite a lot to try and forget things.
His upbringing was difficult, brought up seeing violence and drug/drinks so it was a powerful listen.
He must go down as one of our worst overseas signings versus the expectations we had but he did seem to have lots of off and on field issues. Well worth a listen.
I’ll have a listen to that
He seems super honest Joel Thompson and I think that’s one of the things that endears him to fans so much. He may have not have contributed much on the pitch for us but I won’t remember him as a poor signing, just one that didn’t work out how we wanted it to
Its a tough one because it seemed like one of the reasons he was signed was because of his level-headedness at Manly. Of the three overseas signings we made, it did seem twelve months ago, that he would be the most successful. Such are the vicissitudes of life I suppose.
That's my take on it too.
He doesn't appear to be one of the few we've had who seemed to be over here on a well-paid European holiday.
My take on it is that he was pretty unlucky on 2 fronts, having to deal with the Covid Protocol Bubble probably more difficult than he thought and then the niggly injuries he played with just knocked the enthusiam out of him. I don't think its a well paid Europian holiday scenario because he wasn't allowed to go anywhere that was probably very tough on his wife and kids.
He said and tried to do the right things, sometimes it doesnt work out, his body let him down, theres not much you can do when that happens, at least he’s acknowledged it and done the right thing by retiring rather than trying to claim money he wouldnt deserve.
In fairness to the guy he realised he was no longer up to it and fronted up and saved us the extra year on his contract
his form seemed to pick up once he made that decision
Ok he didn't live up to what we hoped/expected from him but he wasn't a disaster and I have no doubt he would have helped our youngsters with playing tips etc
I listened to the podcast as well and at times it was painful to listen to. I have worked away from home and family and I have a small understanding of some of the issues he spoke about.
Yes he was unlucky with injuries and the Covid situation and what his wife's family were going through in Australia, but he was also unlucky with the point at which his body stopped him from being a top class player. For some it is a gradual decline, but from what he was saying, it was literally in the space of a few months.
For me, he was a good solid player that we signed, but many factors just didn't help him both as a player and in his private life. I don't see him as a failure and his absolute honesty with the club when he spoke to them shows what kind of a character he is.
It was a really good listen and just goes to show that these players that we watch doing things on the pitch that most of us could only dream about, are all human just like the rest of us and a bad game isn't necessarily the result of an incompetent player, it is the result of a range of other things happening in their lives.
Just to quantify my comments. The point I made was that he was one of the worst signings compared to the expectations we had of him. I know there is mitigation and reasons for that, I'm just saying that his performances were poor irrespective of the reasons for the poor performances.
I thought Thompson was a year sober when he joined us, hope his time with us hasn't sent him the other way.
He was the wrong signing.
He was never going to fill Taia's shoes as was required. The signing of Matautia after him was even more baffling as he was and has turned out to be the sort of player needed post Taia.
I think the responsibility lies with the recruiter ,creating a narrative around community contributions that just put on more pressure.
I was clearly watching different Manly games to those who talked him up.
A great NRL player who came to the right club ,on the wrong job description and three years too late for his body.
He has a good career lined up in rail recruitment. He walks away with a CC medal and some memories of an overseas adventure.
A mistake but not a Josh Perry mistake.
Thanks Reacher.
Really enjoyed the podcast & it gave a good perspective on Joel & especially his year at Saints. Injury, homesickness & Covid are really big issues to face. As such it was great to see the joy in his celebrations at the GF.
Also have now listened to the James Graham episode. Very eye opening and again loved hearing about the final six months at Saints.
Also made me think what a key role Nathan Mills plays behind the scenes at Saints. Clearly he has a key relationship with the players.