Bodene Thompson (born 1 August 1988) is a New Zealand professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who last played as a forward for

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

in the

RFL Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in British rugby league system, Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) ...

. He previously played for the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

and the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

in the

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England. Leigh play homes games at Leigh Sports Village and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

Toronto Wolfpack Toronto Wolfpack RLFC is a Canadian professional rugby league club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club is the first and only professional rugby league club in North America, and as of 2023 competes in the self sponsored Canada Cup, an invitation ...

in both

and the

and also spent time on loan from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in the

. He previously represented New Zealand Māori at international level.

Background

Thompson was born in

Tauranga Tauranga (, Māori language for "resting place," or "safe anchorage") is a coastal city in the Bay of Plenty Region and the List of cities in New Zealand, fifth-most populous city of New Zealand, with an urban population of or roughly 3% of t ...

, New Zealand. He is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

descent.

Playing career

Early career

A Tauranga City Sharks junior, Thompson played first grade alongside his stepdad when aged only 16. He then moved to Australia with his family and attended Keebra Park High. In 2008 he played for the Gold Coast Titans Toyota Cup (Under-20s) team.

Gold Coast Titans

Thompson made his

debut for the Gold Coast Titans in Round 9, 2009, making 3 appearances from the bench that year. He made 17 appearances in 2010, including 2 semis, and signed a deal with the club that lasted until the end of the 2014 season. Bodene Thompson

Wests Tigers

Thompson was released from the Titans in 2012 and signed a two-year deal with rival club Wests Tigers commencing in 2013. Having knocked back an offer to join the Tigers in 2007, Thompson had said, "I had the (Wests Tigers) offer there (in 2007) but I'm a family man and like to be around my family. We had only just moved over so I didn't want to shoot off somewhere else as soon as we got here." Thompson felt compelled to change clubs as he was behind Greg Bird,

Ashley Harrison Ashley Harrison (born 18 May 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 2000s and 2010s. He played for the Gold Coast Titans in the NRL. A Queensland State of Origin representative lock forwar ...

and Nate Myles for a spot in the back-row. Thompson played in 15 games for the Wests Tigers in 2013. He mostly played in the second-row, but finished the season in the centres.

New Zealand Warriors

On 1 November 2014, Thompson signed a 3-year contract with the

starting in 2015.

Leigh Centurions

Thompson joined the Leigh Centurions ahead of the 2018 RFL Championship season.

Warrington Wolves

He stepped up in to the

European Super League The Unify League (UL), previously known as the European Super League (ESL), was a proposed seasonal football competition for clubs in Europe. It was supposed to be organised by the European Super League Company, S.L., a commercial enterprise ...

and joined the Warrington Wolves in the middle of the

2018 Super League season Super League XXIII, known as the Betfred Super League XXIII for sponsor reasons, was the 23rd season of the Super League and 124th season of rugby league in Britain for 2018. Wigan Warriors were crowned champions after beating Warrington Wolve ...

. He played in the

2018 Super League Grand Final The 2018 Super League Grand Final was the 21st official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXIII. It was held at Old Trafford in Manchester on 13 October 2018, kick off 18.00. The final was contested by Warrington Wolves a ...

defeat by the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

Toronto Wolfpack

Thompson dropped back down to the Championship with the Toronto Wolfpack ahead of the 2019 RFL Championship season. He was promoted with the Wolfpack at the end of the 2019 season.

Leeds Rhinos loan

Thompson spent the last three months of the season on loan from Toronto after the Super League club experienced financial difficulties as a result of the Global Coronavirus pandemic.

Leeds permanent switch

He signed a two-year contract with Leeds ahead of the

2021 Super League season Super League XXVI, known as the 2021 Betfred Super League XXVI for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the Super League and 127th season of rugby league in Great Britain. The 2021 season was originally scheduled to begin on 11 March 2021 ...

. In round 16 of the 2022 Super League season, Thompson was sent to the sin bin for a dangerous tackle during Leeds 42–12 loss against St Helens. On 24 September 2022, Thompson played for Leeds in their 24–12 loss to

St Helens RFC St Helens R.F.C., commonly known as Saints, is a professional rugby league club in St Helens, Merseyside, England. Founded in 1873, the club is one of the oldest members of the Rugby Football League, and one of the most successful clubs in its ...

in the

2022 Super League Grand Final The 2022 Super League Grand Final was the 25th official grand final and championship-deciding rugby league game of Super League XXVII. The match was contested between St Helens and the Leeds Rhinos, for a record fifth time at Old Trafford. Back ...

Bradford Bulls

On 25 October 2022 it was announced that he had signed a one-year deal with

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

International career

Thompson played for the New Zealand Māori in 2010 against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He was named in the New Zealand Māori squad for a match against the

New Zealand Residents The New Zealand Residents (also previously known as New Zealand 'A', New Zealand XIII, the Lion Red Cup XIII and currently known as the Bartercard Premiership Selection) are a New Zealand rugby league football representative side that is selected ...

on 15 October 2016.

Controversy

On 2 May 2016, The New Zealand Herald reported five players were stood down from an international test match for mixing prescription drugs with energy drinks on a night out. The recipe can emulate the effect of illicit drugs. Thompson was one of the players named who was stood down alongside

Manu Vatuvei Manu Mapuhola Mafi-Vatuvei (born 4 March 1986), also known by the nickname "The Beast", is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who was both a Tonga and New Zealand international representative er. He previously played for t ...

Ben Matulino Ben Andrew Matulino (born 3 January 1989) is a New Zealand former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s as a or . He played for the New Zealand Warriors and the Wests Tigers in the National Rugby League, NRL, ...

, Sam Lisone and Albert Vete. On September 11, 2017, Thompson's former partner Belinda Medlyn alleged she had group sex sessions with Thompson and his teammates. The allegations came to public knowledge after a dispute over finances to raise their child became apparent. Thompson accused Medlyn of threatening to expose the story unless he gave her $50,000.

Boxing

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Paul Gallen Paul Gallen (born 14 August 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and occassional professional boxer. He played as a and forward and captained the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL to their maiden NRL Premiers ...

, , , , align=left, , align=left,

References

External links

Leeds Rhinos profile

Toronto Wolfpack profileLeigh Centurions profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Bodene 1988 births Living people 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Bradford Bulls players Expatriate rugby league players in Canada Gold Coast Titans players Leeds Rhinos players Leigh Leopards players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in Australia New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Canada New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players People educated at Keebra Park State High School Rugby league centres Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Tauranga Toronto Wolfpack players Warrington Wolves players Wests Tigers players