Wagga City Wanderers and Wagga United have mutually confirmed dual-registered player Prince Thompson’s decision to quit the State League side after the defender committed to playing solely in the Pascoe Cup competition with his local club.
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The announcement follows United’s stunning 3-0 upset over premiership contenders Tolland last weekend, during which Thompson was a standout performer.
Answering speculation about Thompson’s future earlier this week, United coach Travis Weir told The Daily Advertiser the defender was now committed exclusively to his side and the Pascoe Cup competition for the rest of the year.
“He’s made the decision to play with United from hereon in. It’s a huge win for us,” Weir said.
Thompson’s departure comes as a further blow to the Wanderers’ hopes of avoiding the State League wooden spoon after defenders Damion Patterson and Daniel Okot were injured in their side’s away loss to Bankstown United FC.
However, Wanderers coach Ross Morgan was pragmatic about Thompson’s decision to quit the representative side, stating his former player wasn’t regularly getting 90 minutes in the black and white strip.
“Prince had been struggling for playing time in first grade, if we’re honest,” Morgan said.
“He’d been coming off the bench a fair bit and others were starting ahead of him.”
Morgan was nevertheless quick to issue a reminder that players who committed fully to his side would be the ones granted more opportunities at the top level.
“It’s his decision to leave the club and we can’t stop him from doing that, but the players who stick around are usually rewarded,” Morgan said.
Thompson’s departure raised queries about other dual-registered players across the competition including team mate Tyler Allen, who’s been plying his trade for both United and Wanderers this season.
Under current competition guidelines, senior players are eligible to play in the finals series “in the grade in which they have played the majority of their games throughout the league series”.
In the case of a player participating in an equal number of games in more than one grade, they may only play in the higher grade in the finals series.
Thompson is listed on Football Wagga’s website as having played nine games for Wagga United in the Pascoe Cup competition this season, six games less than the 15 he has played for Wanderers in 2018.
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