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'Gifted' ex-All Blacks XV enforcer makes stunning move to NRL

Tyrone Thompson of the Chiefs during the Super Rugby Pacific Grand Final match between Blues and Chiefs at Eden Park, on June 22, 2024, in Auckland, New Zealand. (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Former All Blacks XV and Maori All Blacks hooker Tyrone Thompson has made the move to rugby league after signing with the Newcastle Knights. Thompson will join his identical twin brother and New Zealand international Leo at the Novocastrians for the 2025 NRL season.

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Thompson debuted for Wellington in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship on September 12, 2020, in a 53-2 win over Waikato at FMG Stadium Waikato. The front-rower played another 15 matches over the next two seasons before getting a chance in Super Rugby.

Playing away to Moana Pasifika in the fifth round of Super Rugby Pacific in 2022, Thompson made a try-scoring debut off the bench for the Chiefs. The New Zealander formed a formidable one-two punch with starting hooker and All Black Samisoni Taukei’aho.

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It seemed that Thompson was destined for representative honours within the New Zealand rugby system, and that opportunity finally came with the All Blacks XV last September. The hooker came off the bench against a Japan XV and then the Brave Blossoms.

Thompson was later selected to play for the Maori All Blacks in two matches against a Japan XV, with the 24-year-old scoring a try in the second clash at City of Toyota Stadium. But, after six NPC games this year, the Test prospect’s rugby union career came to a halt.

On Thursday, the Newcastle Knights announced that they’d signed the physical front-rower in the Knights’ top squad on a NRL Development contract. The Knights are looking forward to seeing what the former All Blacks XV enforcer can add to their squad.

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“Tyrone is a very gifted player, with a burning desire to follow in his brothers’ footsteps and play in the NRL,” Newcastle Knights Head of Recruitment, Peter O’Sullivan, said in a statement.

“He has proven to be a highly skilful and powerful player in rugby, representing at international level for the Maori All Blacks and All Blacks XV, after being in elite junior pathway teams and programs for many years.

“I vividly remember watching the brothers play for Napier Boys High, Leo was a centre and Tyrone an athletic forward, they were both elite players, who stood out.

“To be prepared to walk away from where he is comfortable in the All Blacks system and have a crack at the NRL shows his desire to follow Leo into the NRL and he can’t wait to begin that journey to becoming a Knight.”

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Comments

5 Comments
S
SadersMan 9 days ago

"Stunning" makes it sound dramatic when the move has been public news for months.

A
Andrew Nichols 9 days ago

Useless heading like the endless overused description of all and sundry mediocrities and legends alike as "Stars" Nothing "stunning". It's just sad and was forecast a yr ago.

J
JW 9 days ago

No regrets. Could have been an All Black this year, was rather frustrating to see him forced to take a back seat because he wasn't part of the future.


Hope he enjoys league with his brother but he can remember that he is a union player with a great rugby brain and he'll be able to come back at any stage and make a good shot at it if that was a dream too.

M
MakeOllieMathisAnAB 9 days ago

Should have signed with the Raiders bruv! I guess he’ll be a prop/2nd row?

H
Head high tackle 9 days ago

Geez its easy to make an NRL squad. Any Union guy can just sign on and then the rest is easy. I guess its a real lack of talent in League and the NRL in particular.

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JW 2 hours ago
All Blacks player ratings vs Ireland | Autumn Nations Series

Nah, if you see some picture of a way to blame Dmac rather than the whole team who were slacking and just getting beat by an Argentina team that was up for it then you've got unconscious bias I'm afraid.


The coaching staff (and the team as they had done throughout Fosters era) did just not get them in the right frame of mind. They slackened off after two intense English tests and were slow to build back up into test match intensity after the San Diego run around. You can view that Wellington loss as akin to what went on in Chicago in 2016, it was just delayed a couple of weeks in this instance.


Good reminder of what game management is, unfortunately it doesn't cover all the bases and is missing pivotal parts of lethality.


I think you're misunderstanding the argument, this is about Dmac, not the team, and about his idea of game management, not his application. In none of the games this year, including this weekends one, has he done relentless execution of the basics. His conservative game was neither shrewd or accurate.


The difference here is perspective. You see a win and you want to apply credit, just as you saw a lose and want to apply blame. Dmac's game management in both circumstances was very similar, just in this game I felt that pressure to concentrate on it caused him a few more errors in that application for no real gain in that area, and a much more ineffective attack stop the team from making it a very comfortable game.


The other difference is you a way overplaying Irelands performance imo. They were pathetic. Even in the start of the 2nd when they were trying to get points with the card it felt comfortable they weren't going to have what it takes even if they fixed their error rate. That was the first Bled test where Dmac nearly singlehandedly took an unbeatable 50 lead, a great example of good game management that again just didn't come off. Those tests were not 12 tests ago. Twelve tests ago he was running England around like he'd been in the jersey his whole career. We didn't break any record, the streak is a figment of Irelands imagination to desperately show how good they are to the world. You've been caught hook line and sinker in all these topics sadly.

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