Cowboys enforcer Griffin Neame names Leo Thompson as the Newcastle Knight he can’t wait to steamroll

Find out which Knights star rising Kiwis enforcer Griffin Neame can’t wait to charge at on Saturday when Newcastle come to town.

Cowboys prop Griffin Neame taking on the Dolphins In Round 1 of the 2024 NRL season. Picture: Zain Mohammed / NRL Imagery

Rising Kiwis enforcer Griffin Neame is relishing the opportunity to go toe-to-toe with Newcastle prop Leo Thompson on Saturday when the Knights come to town.

Thompson and Neame gave the world a glimpse of New Zealand’s generation next when they humbled the Kangaroos 30-0 during a historic Hamilton hiding.

Despite coming from opposite islands, the Greymouth and Gisborne juniors formed a close friendship during the Pacific Championships, making their international debuts and wearing the No.16 and No.17 jerseys in all three tests.

Neame said he would enjoy catching up with Thompson – but not until after his job was done for North Queensland.

“Leo is a good mate of mine from the Kiwis. He’s a really good player and a big body, an aggressive body, so it’ll be good to go against him,” Neame said.

“We made some good memories at the end of last year so (I’m) looking forward to catching up with him, but we’ve got 80 minutes of footy first.”

Leo Thompson leads the Maori All Stars Haka ahead of the 2024 NRL All Stars match. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)

Having just turned 23, Neame is beginning to unleash his massive potential and he has a starting Cowboys jersey in his sights.

He said he can get closer to his goal of starting if he stays healthy.

“It was sad news about Coen (Hess), it’s awful news but that’s a step closer for me (starting). He’s someone that can help me too, by watching the games,” Neame said.

“But it’s definitely a big goal for mine and hopefully down the track when there’s Origin, and if Reubs (Cotter) is playing Origin then I might get that go, but we’ll see what Toddy (Payten) wants to do.

“I probably had more injuries than I wanted last year and I’m hoping that I can play every game this year.

Griffin Neame of New Zealand Kiwis runs past the Samoan defence. Picture: NRL Imagery

“It’s rugby league. Anything can happen and anyone can get hurt, there’s injuries everywhere in this game, and fingers crossed I can just stay healthy.”

During round 1 Neame made 22 tackles without a miss during 33 minutes.

He said he was impressed by Heilum Luki’s stint in the middle of the field while Kulikefu Finefeuiaki was on.

“We’ve been into him lately actually about coming into the middle, they call it the washing machine, you get a bit tired in there,” Neame said.

“He’s just a massive athletic body and he could probably play anywhere on the field actually. When there’s a guy like that taking hit ups for you, it definitely creates good go-forward for us.”

Originally published as Cowboys enforcer Griffin Neame names Leo Thompson as the Newcastle Knight he can’t wait to steamroll