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Well said. Agree mate.
Former Dragons and Sharks forward Lance Thompson has been found dead in his Cronulla apartment.
Police and paramedics were called to a unit in the Sutherland Shire at 9pm on Thursday.
Lance Thompson (right), playing for the Dragons back in 1998.
Photo: NRL Photos
A report is being prepared for the coroner, but police say there were no suspicious circumstances or evidence of self harm. Thompson was 40.
The flame-haired Thompson developed a cult following in 11 seasons with St George and St George Illawarra before finishing his NRL career with three seasons with the Sharks.
Making his Dragons debut as a teenager back in 1995, he played 201 games for the club and retired in 2008 having won five NSW City jumpers.
Thompson was forced to retire after just his second game of that 2008 season following debilitating pain in a knee, which he said was preventing him from keeping up with his then-seven-year-old daughter while playing soccer in a local park.
He left St George Illawarra after the red-hot favourites crashed out of the 2005 competition with a preliminary final loss to the Wests Tigers, who would go on to beat the Cowboys in the grand final.
Thompson ran several restaurants after his playing days finished and as recently as this year filmed a segment for Fox League at one of his premises, Woolooware Golf Club.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/former-dragons-cult-hero-lance-thompson-dead-20180824-p4zzgn.html
Very good idea
Great read.
DRAGONS
How red-headed rogue Lance Thompson became cult hero
Author
Dan Walsh & Brad Walter
Timestamp
Fri 24 Aug 2018, 03:10 PM
"Don't worry mate, let me handle this."
Jason Stevens is running a high school coaching clinic in the mid 1990s in the St George area.
And Lance Thompson, still well and truly young enough to be wearing a PE uniform and looking up at the first-grade prop, is pushing him aside to take charge of the drill.
"That was Thommo," the former NSW and Australian representative told NRL.com.
"When he came on so early, he was already showing you up, already taking charge. He was already bench-pressing more than seasoned players in the gym. He was just so naturally strong.
"I remember in his first game [against Cronulla in 1995 when Thompson was still just 17] I tipped the ball onto him for his first touch.
"He broke the line and made a massive run, and there wasn't much of a gap for him to go through but he was just so skilful early on in his career."
Like countless ex-teammates, coaches, friends, family and the wider rugby league land, Stevens was shocked by the death of Thompson, aged 40, the red-headed rogue who grew larger than life in the red and white.
Vale, Lance Thompson
A few months after his 18th birthday Thompson was playing in 1996 grand final for St George, a loss to Manly that left him broken on the SFS turf, his impending HSC exams later that year the furthest thing from his mind.
From those same formative years, the legendary tale along the lines of Thompson being so determined not to miss a game while still at school that he pulled out his braces with a pair of pliers.
“I remember something like that,” said Anthony Mundine, another former Dragons teammate.
“Thommo wasn’t the biggest guy, he wouldn’t have been 100kg and he was a rugged player, very tough and had that mentality and will that drove him.”
Mundine and Thompson go back to their schoolyard days together, finding their way to the top grade with St George and then when the club merged with Illawarra in 1999.
Success came to the joint-venture club immediately given the strong combined rosters and generous salary cap concessions that brought them together.
The inevitable tension in amalgamating two proud clubs surfaced too, with Thompson once again handling it.
Lance Thompson 1978-2018
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Lance Thompson with the Dragons in 2005 against the Broncos.
Lance Thompson 1978-2018
Lance Thompson 1978-2018
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Lance Thompson playing for the Dragons in 2005.
Lance Thompson 1978-2018
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Lance Thompson (right) on the defensive with the Dragons in 2005.
Lance Thompson 1978-2018
“There was a lot of passion there for his beloved St George and I had chats with him because there was a bit of Wollongong versus St George," Andrew Farrar, co-coach of that first Dragons side, said.
"But he was one of the blokes who really embraced the joint venture. He was just that keen to play footy, he was always first there and always keen to train. He was old school. He played busted.
"That was never a problem for Thommo. He was never the first into the physio room or the medical room, he was probably the last."
Brian Smith – the man who gave Thompson that debut against Cronulla – knew the talent he had on his hands back then.
But the competitive drive across 239 games with the Dragons and Sharks trumped the natural ability in both impressions then and memories now.
"I admired his passion for his sport and his competitive attitude throughout his career," Smith said.
"Lance always wanted to win every battle, from the match he was in, to the loose ball on the ground. He was a great clubman and teammate and will be sadly missed by all who knew and respected him."
When Thompson parted ways with the Dragons at the end of 2005, they copped the brunt of his fire.
The local junior stormed out of their end-of-season presentation night under the belief he was being shuffled out to ease salary cap pressure.
Always able to throw fists with the best of them – fighting twice on Mundine's undercards while still playing first grade – Thompson fought on first via the press, and then at arch-rivals Cronulla for another two seasons.
Thompson battled off-field issues at different stages of his career. A marriage breakdown rocked him. Alcohol took its toll at times, most famously when he fronted for a pre-season recovery session still celebrating his 26th birthday with a beer in hand.
His sudden death in his Cronulla apartment aged 40 has prompted questions, though police have said there was no evidence of self-harm or suspicious circumstances.
Friends and those who had come across Thompson recently reported him to be in good spirits, the former back-rower first managing footballers including Andrew Fifita and the Stanley brothers Chas and Kyle, and then running restaurants in the south of Sydney after hanging up his boots.
"I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago and he seemed great," Mundine said.
"Me and Thommo always got along. I miss the brother, just knowing he is not here. I am going to be rocked and shocked for a couple of weeks before I come to terms with reality.
"For me he was a loving guy, his family loved him, his friends loved him."
Among all the fond Thompson memories – THAT Falcon as Melbourne rattled up a 70-10 demolition job on his side in 2000, his front row seat for Nathan Brown's slap on Trent Barrett three years later – family surfaces immediately.
Ben Creagh – a Thompson favourite as "another ranga back-rower coming through the club" – remembers a particular devotion to his daughter, Shalisse.
Finally called it a day in 2008, asking then-Cronulla coach Ricky Stuart for one last game to farewell the fans, it was because Thompson couldn't keep up with young Shalisse at the local park.
Thompson's extension of simple, but rare kindness to Creagh's own kin speaks to numerous other tales of a popular figure, mourned by many.
He was a loving guy, his family loved him, his friends loved him.
Anthony Mundine
"When I was still just a young guy at the start of my career, he always took the time out after training or after games to find my parents and go and have a chat with them," Creagh said.
"My mum and dad always remembered that, and for a club legend to go out of his way to find your family and welcome them, keep coming back to them as they were like me, still working out football as a career, they really appreciated that.
"The other thing about Thommo, he really did seem like a great dad.
"His daughter was always at our captain's runs and training, jumping all over him at training and she was a big part of his life. She was really important to him and it's a really sad day for his family."
https://www.dragons.com.au/news/2018/08/25/how-red-headed-rogue-lance-thompson-became-cult-hero/
Well said about Thommo...and 96...we were dudded by was it Manson? in that GF.
Thanks Smarty, enjoyed and saddened in reading the article.Home > Sports > NRL
PLAYERS VOICE
I was always first in line at the buffet on away trips.
We got the full spread: lasagne, veggies, chicken, the works.
Lance Thompson was different. He always made sure he had his own meal. Steamed fish and veggies. It always stuck out to me.
Fast-forward 10 or 12 years and that’s what every NRL player eats. Healthy and professional.
Thommo was a man before his time.
While the other boys were ripping in, Thommo sat back and waited for specially tailored food that gave him the best possible preparation for games and kept his body right. He was well ahead of me in that regard!
That’s what Thommo was about. That’s how he went about his business.
He looked after me when I first came into first-grade.
He also knew when to put you in your place. He was a really good trainer and always made sure you ripped in. He loved to have a joke and a muck-around, a trait we shared, but he was very serious when it came to his football.
He went hard every day of a career that featured 239 first-grade games.
One thing you knew about Thommo: when he went out on that field, he was going to give you his heart and soul. He gave that every game for the Dragons, as he would have for the Sharks.
A lot of people are hurting today. We’ve lost a champion bloke, far too young at age 40.
DRAGON TEARS
I was in at work early for my breakfast show with Mark Levy on Macquarie Sports Radio. We saw that Steve Hart had broken the news on Twitter that a former NRL player had passed away overnight. The first thought that went through my head was, ‘Who that I played with has it happened to?’
We followed it up with Steve. When I heard the name Lance Thompson – a bloke I played with, knew very well and had a great relationship with – it hit me like a tonne of bricks.
I was sitting at my desk. I was devastated.
There were tears when we first heard the news. And there were tears when I was on air. All the memories, all the emotions start to come flooding back when you try to talk about a former teammate and a terrific guy.
I’ve had a lot of the Dragons guys from that era ring me and text me to try to find out what happened. I’ve had text messages from Paul McGregor and Trent Barrett – Baz rang this morning. Mark Gasnier, Jason Ryles, Shaun Timmins, Willie Peters, Dean Young, Aaron Gorrell, Matty Cooper – the list goes on.
Everyone was reassuring each other, making sure everyone was all right. That was a touching thing, in a terrible situation. It’s something Thommo would have done, for sure.
One thing you knew about Thommo: when he went out on that field, he was going to give you his heart and soul.
Perhaps it would surprise people who didn’t know him, given he had a tough exterior, but Thommo loved taking young players under his wing. If you asked a lot of the younger Dragons boys from that era, they’ll tell you what an influence Thommo had over them.
When I came into first-grade at 20-21, he was in the pack with me and he always made you feel comfortable; you knew he’d be ripping in alongside you, and knew he’d get the best out of you.
Thommo and I got on really well because we enjoyed having a bit of a joke with each other. But when he spoke, you listened. That was the big thing with Thommo: if he pulled you back into line, you knew it was warranted. He had the respect of the whole playing group, top to bottom.
After his long career at the Dragons and then the Sharks, he had a boxing career off the back of footy. He also had some successful businesses, with his management company and his restaurant down at Woolooware, near Cronulla.
Everyone knew Thommo. Everyone would have a story about Thommo.
He was a great mate.
He leaves behind three beautiful children and he loved them a lot.
That’s the most heartbreaking part. We have lost a mate, but they have lost their dad.
GREAT FOOTBALLER & DAD
While Thommo was a new-school thinker, he was an old-school footballer, through and through.
He debuted in first-grade as a 17-year-old back in 1995. He played through the end of that semi-professional era in the late 90s and was at the forefront when the game ramped-up into full professionalism in the 2000s, with his work ethic, training methods and the way he ate.
You just knew what you were going to get with Thommo. You knew he’d be there to take the tough carry at the start of the set, when you’re trying to get out of your own end of the field. And you knew he’d be there to make his tackles, hitting hard on each one. He’d turn up when you needed him to help you out. He had a really good offload in him as well.
He was the type of bloke you loved to play with, and there can be no higher compliment to a footballer.
It’s never easy coming up against your old club and your old teammates, and Thommo was top of that list; I had to play against him after leaving the Dragons.
You knew he was going to rip in against you, he wouldn’t care that you were mates – if anything, he’d wear it as a badge of honour if he got one over on you! He was so competitive and that’s what you were up against when you played him: a man who never gave up.
Thommo is probably a player you’d call unlucky never to have played State of Origin. There’s no doubt that if he was picked, he would have done a job. He got plenty of City Origin games in his prime and showed he was of that calibre. He was a tough, no-nonsense forward.
He played through pain in the final years of his career at the Sharks, carrying a knee injury. He battled away with it, before making a decision that again showed the type of man he was.
Thommo described how he was playing soccer in the park with his daughter, Shalisse, one day and felt like he couldn’t keep up.
He didn’t want to spend his life not being able to play with his kids, not being able to look after them as best he could. He put his family before any personal desire to play on and he has to be commended for that decision alone.
I saw Thommo a couple of months ago.
We had him on the show, talking about the old days and what he was up to then with his Lance Thompson Bar and Grill at Woolooware Golf Club. It was great to catch up; it was always good to see Thommo.
It still hasn’t sunk in. Just 40 years of age, and very, very fit and healthy.
I can’t believe Thommo is gone. My heart goes out to his partner, kids and close mates.
We’ve lost one of the best.
Mark Riddell - Contributor
https://www.playersvoice.com.au/mark-riddell-the-thommo-we-knew/#osjR7L52fYR4RlaE.97
Was about to say the same to you Ribsy. Are you going to the game on Sunday? Will be raising a drink for Thommo before, during and after.
