Oldham new boy has point to prove

OLDHAM have signed a player with a point to prove in 20-year-old loose-forward Liam Thompson.

He did not get a first-team chance at Widnes Vikings last season and is banking on the door of opportunity opening up for him at Whitebank.

The sixth and youngest of the Roughyeds’ new boys, Thompson follows his former Vikings under-20s team mate Josh Crowley into Scott Naylor’s new-look squad.

“I can’t wait to play some first-team rugby,” he said.

“I was bitterly disappointed when I wasn’t given a run at Widnes. When I get my chance at Oldham I’ll grab it with both hands.”

Both he and 21-year-old second-row man Crowley were released by Widnes as a direct result of the RFL’s restructure of age-related rugby beneath first-team level at Super League clubs.

Wigan-born Thompson played his early rugby at St Jude’s and Hindley and signed for Wigan, aged 16, after playing for England Schoolboys.

After three years working his way through the academy system at the Warriors, he moved to Widnes.

He is currently a second-year student at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, studying sports science.