Heard that he has gone to Aus with immediate effect

Reportedly refused to agree to the pay cut all his colleagues had and as such and despite reservations, the Club felt that the best solution was his early release, subject to a transfer fee.

its correct, mcmanus has proper thrown him under the bus in their statement

stay classy Eamon

He does have history

From the outside looks as though Thompson has refused to take a pay cut to leverage an early move to the NRL, not great from his side.

McManus true to form doesn't come across well either, I think a more sensible press release would have been one along the lines of how they wish him all the best but understand his desire to leave for the NRL early given the current situation etc etc. Instead what he has done is create a divide whereby some supporters are blaming the club and some supporters are blaming the player.

McManus has done great things for Saints over the years, but he doesn't half come across as bitter and twisted sometimes.

McManus is right for me on this one. It’s a club wide pay cut. Can’t ask minimum wage staff to take a pay cut and not apply it to top earners.

Fair play for me

I'm surprised he was taken before the "world class" Scarsbrook.

Keeps adding to the speculation that Ben Currie is going to saints as well. Had another fan mention it to me today in work about him signing at saints.

No doubt Currie will then come back to haunt us in pre injury form.

His washing line must stank!

Currie, I’ve heard 3 years with the option offer from Wigan.

Well that would free up a good chunk of Money for us, be a shame to see him go, but if we ARE signing McMeeken that would help fill the gap amd Livett is always an option. I know Livett is hit and miss with fans but for me if he gets game time in one position i think he will find great form. I think he would make a brilliant 13 and would fit very nicely in to the team. Backline of Hughes, McMeeken and Livett, might not make fans go crazy with excitement but you could do much worse then that.
Question, how many of you guys would prefer to keep Currie, or would you rather see him move on?

From Murdoch-Masila and Currie to Livett and McMeeken - big downgrade for me. Josh Jones would help.

Ah, Mr Fertle, I trust you and yours are well.

I agree. The refound form of BMM in the last 18 months will be a big loss.
Livett, on his day, is superb. However, those days are not seen anywhere near enough. McMeeken, I ve not seen enough of. Could he be another Danny Kirkmonde? Shining, whilst surrounded by inferior players.
Which leaves [ithe elephant in the room[/i.... Currie.
(I imagine) We've invested a lot of cap space on him, whilst he's been injured/rehab. It's clear to see he's not the man he was, so do we sign him up again, or let him go, and pray it doesn't come back to haunt us.

Tough decisions ahead.

I like McMeeken but he's not the same standard as Currie.
It would be a big loss for us.
I think there have been flashes of his pre injury form and really want him to stay.

Unless Currie has fallen out with the coaching staff then you would expect that we could retain him simply by matching any deal on offer. Warrington know better than any other club where he stands with regard to fitness and whether they believe that he will regain his pre-injury form. If they choose to let him go to another club (I keep hearing Wigan) then it is because we either do not feel that he justifies the price tag or else we believe that the salary cap is better spent elsewhere.

I would be sorry to see him go but we have to work within the cap and a front rower must be our next priority.

All good thanks Mr Goldblatt.

I’m not seeing it with Livett. His superb days total 1 from my memory - several years ago at Leeds. Think he’ll find his level at a lower super league club and be a reasonable utility player.
I’d be disappointed to see Currie go, I think he could get back to where he was a few years ago. ‘Tis a risk either way though, big decisions indeed.

The main knock on Currie is that he hasn't done anything since 2017.

What about McMeeken? Admittedly I'm reliant on TV games to judge but I don't remember noticing McMeeken much since the 2017 season either. Has he maintained his form or did he have a drop-off in the last two seasons as well?

Seeing has Inglis is carrying plenty of timber, which is much more difficult to shed as you get older, is it not possible that he could easily play in the back row?

Or perhaps, Inglis comes in at centre and Toby King, often mentioned as a possible backrower in the future, be moved there?

Ashton at 1, Ratchford and Inglis in your centres, with King, Hughes and a new signing (I'd take Josh Jones, thanks) as the back row isn't a shabby line up.

Throw in Austin, Widdop and Clark and that isn't so bad?

Looks like the Thompson move is a sign of the times. I am not too sure we will be playing in front of crowds until the play offs if at all. The match day revenue that is lost will be significant and clubs will be looking to reduce their costs. Saints may have just reduced their costs by £100k-£200k when you factor in any fee that bulldogs have paid.

With regards to Currie / McMeekan. Second rowers tend to have a couple of seasons where they are touted as the best thing since sliced bread. I don't know if that is media hype or if they hit a patch where they have a great combination with their half back/centre on a particular edge only for that combination to end. I think McMeekan played on the RIGHT edge with Ben Roberts and Jake Wester, if so both his halfback and centre have moved on. I have mentioned before that on the edge combinations and timing is crucial. Currie has had Atkins, Goodwin and now King at centre with Sandow, Brown, Patton and then at the start of this season Ratchford and then Widdop. That is a lot of changes to our left edge in the last 4 years.

I don't think that this is a bad move by Saints. If Thompson was refusing to take a pay cut, as has been claimed, then that sows unrest within the club. Add to this that you can cut your wage bill this year and bring cash in then it's a good business. I know that it's early days but I think that people will look at this season's eventual champions and think that they didn't win a proper competition (watch it be us now). Better to put yourself in a good position for 2021.

Yeah i was thinking this aswell, if we did finally win it this year opposition fans would throw that around saying it doesn't count as a proper win etc

Why. From what I understand. We are most likely going to lose the loop fixtures. So 22 games. Plus the playoffs. Finnish come november or december. Jobs a gudden. However you put it. The winners this year will be rightful champions and earnt it.

The rumour is he was going to refuse to play because of concerns over Covid 19 anyway, so the club had little option. Sounds like a typical case of a relatively young player being swayed by a move and his agent giving him really bad advice in terms of maintaining a relationship with your club, but good advice if you are a selfish and cynical person.

The suggestion is that there will be no attempt to replace him this season, to cut costs and there may be another couple leaving early in a similar way. Seems like they're almost writing this season off if they do that.

Which makes me wonder about the current situation and Warrington. How would you feel if the inevitable end of the title drought was this season and in front of no crowd or a very small crowd in a makeshift Grand Final somewhere? Would that ruin the moment or would you not care?

I wouldn’t care, I am a firm believer once we get the 1st out of the way a few will follow in the space of 5/6 years anyway. We just need to get over the line and get the first one crowd or no crowd.