\u201cone of the missing pieces we\u2019d been searching for\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Bulldogs](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/357df78320e5554de9f985b8bcce8987486b8dc2.jpeg\")
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Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo sees Thompson as the missing part of the Bulldogs\u2019 puzzle.Credit: Canterbury Bulldogs<\/p>\n
\u201cI had always admired from afar the way Leo had started his career, he had a presence, leg speed, and seemed hungry to improve,\u201d Ciraldo said this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s brought some size and that presence we\u2019ve probably been looking for the last couple of years. He\u2019s constantly in the coaches offices chasing feedback and improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Throw in Sitili Tupouniua, who was excellent when not injured last year, and 19-year-old Finau Latu, who is expected to debut in the opening month of the competition, and the Dogs\u2019 pack suddenly has some overdue bite.<\/p>\n
Thompson credited former Bulldogs forward Corey Harawira-Naera, a fellow Kiwi, for helping him develop the good habits required to make it in the NRL.<\/p>\n
Harawira-Naera retired after suffering a mid-game seizure in 2023, but remained in contact with Thompson.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was playing reserve grade with the Raiders, Corey was in and out of first grade, and he had a big influence on my career,\u201d Thompson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did a lot of extras outside training, we\u2019d go to the gym every day, and he was always big on recovery. I hadn\u2019t played in the NRL yet, but I remember thinking this is what is required to make it in the NRL.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould was the mastermind behind the recruitment of Harawira-Naera and fellow Kiwi James Fisher-Harris to Penrith more than a decade ago. Fisher-Harris\u2019 accent was so thick in those early months that Harawira-Naera used to translate for his young Panthers teammates.<\/p>\n
Loading<\/p>\n
Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton won three premierships with Fisher-Harris and said he could see many of the same attributes in Thompson.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeo has been lucky enough to be in those Kiwis camps and rub shoulders with \u2018Fish\u2019, Crichton said. \u201cI\u2019ve played a lot footy with Fish, so I know those two have a lot of similarities.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeo will play his best footy with us. He brings a lot of intensity to training. He doesn\u2019t talk a lot, but when he does, what he says is important, and everyone listens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thompson\u2019s twin Tyrone was at the Knights, and has since returned home to play Super Rugby with the Chiefs. The pair used to confuse selectors when trialling for representative rugby teams, with coaches never sure if they had been watching the right brother.<\/p>\n
Thompson has settled into Maroubra, with the coastal life reminding him of his childhood on Hawke\u2019s Bay. He knows the Belmore faithful are hard markers.<\/p>\n
Thompson wants to win a premiership, and believes he can do so at Canterbury. Even Knights supporters would agree Thompson is now at a club whose roster is better placed to win silverware.<\/p>\n
Dogs fans will get their first look at Thompson in Las Vegas, with the middle forward to use the Maori All Stars in Hamilton next Sunday as his first and final tune-up for the season opener.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dogs were in the minor premiership race for the bulk of last season, only to tail off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-462073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Leo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/7f00f2f8033f4086fbe2cf176ffdfb77bb53cf88.jpeg\")
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