Thompson Wants to Do Well at Leeds
England international Steve Thompson says he wants to do well at Leeds after he was convinced to move to the club by former England international Neil Back.
Thompson says he had been toying with the idea of going back to England from his French league club side, Brive. However, he has admitted that it was the words of Back that convinced him to move up to the North West of England.
Thompson is now ready and raring to go ahead of the new Premiership season and he is a vital asset in the Leeds team. They lack players of similar experience and calibre and it's very important that Thompson starts the season well.
There are a huge number of benefits for him moving back to England that many will ignore as the Premiership season looms. However, many have said that Thompson will be targeted and lacks the fitness now needed over a long English domestic season.
The Positives
The main positive of Thompson joining Leeds is the fact that he gets to move back home and play for a club in the Premiership. This will help his game in a number of ways now that he is getting older and it will also means that he stands a better chance of having a longer England career.
He may well be thinking about coaching after playing out his career at Leeds. He will be in the perfect position to make the transition as he will have good links at Leeds as well as good links with a number of other clubs around the country and Europe.
He has deep experience, which is probably the main reason Leeds signed him. He can use this experience to help out younger players and to make the side a lot more organised during important matches.
Thompson said: "I've worked so hard to get myself fit and I'm enjoying keeping the weight off now. After getting to 22st, I swore I'd never get to that weight again. I'm actually more nervous about coming back to play in the Premiership than I was going to France because there is so much to play for."
Worries
There is no doubt that Thompson deserves a huge amount of praise for losing the amount of weight that he has done. However, this is not going to directly improve his stamina and this is something he will need to focus on. The Premiership is a league that sees heavy challenges flying around all the time and this can fatigue players very quickly.
There are also worries from a few corners of the rugby community that Thompson will find the transition between French and English domestic rugby a little difficult. The ball is passed around a lot quicker in the French leagues and the player could get frustrated that others are not on the same page as him.
He added: "It's a new chapter and I have some big goals ahead of me this season both at club and international level. I could hide out when I was in France and it made life a little bit easier. But coming back to the Premiership, I know that I will be judged more closely and will have to play the best rugby I can every single week."
Betting Advice
Thompson is going to add a lot to the Leeds team but they will still struggle to do anything more than achieve a position towards the top of the table. Don't bet on Thompson because it will become quickly apparent that he's not the type of player to run over the try line with his lack of blistering pace.
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