We don't know that Thompson would not have been their preferred option if the 3 were all available at the same time. Dogs need a front rower now hence their interest is Utoikamanu and May. Thompson isn't available now and wasn't even permitted to negotiate back when Utoikamanu signed with Storm. I think he is 3rd choice chronologically more so than preference.Screams bust to me . Canberra and the dogs went hard for him after striking out on a bunch of front rowers , headlined by May , and stefano .
He was not their first option . Usually that’s when you get yourself in big trouble because you’ve set expectations in the marketplace now .
Like when we signed Reynolds and packer .
His youth should prove me wrong , I just don’t have high expectations .
If Canberra get that kid from the titans , that might be a blessing in disguise . As good as I felt Thompson was last year , at no point did I think he was even top 20 in front rowers , let alone probably second tier prop. Which is the money he’s getting .
As for his ability, I'd have him comfortably in the top 20 but well off the top 10. I think he is the type of player who will be labelled over rated his whole career because he will never have an elite stats sheet but fans will overlook his physical presence in the middle. Probably a little overpaid for what he has produced to date but likely to perform to that pay level in the future.