Messi is commonly regarded as in the top two or three players in his sport EVER, not just in his country at the moment. Absurd comparison.

No he is not.

He's not what?

The only debate tends to be whether he's 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

Stupid pishing contest going on here.

Without a doubt in my younger days I was genuinely excited about going to see John Holmes, Dave Heron, Eric Grothe etc playing. Star players without a doubt generate extra enthusiasm....why is there even a debate?

Sam Tomkins [uis[/u one of the 'star' players.....as is Kallum Watkins.

Only on 'Sub Standard'' could we have a discussion comparing Tomkins with that of Lionel Messi

I fear you've attributed meaning to a choice of words that wasn't intended. I chose 'top' only because I didn't like the term 'star team' and stylistically I preferred to use the same one.

More star players would indeed seem likely to boost attendances, but I still doubt the size of the effect of one individual. The debate is about whether Sam Tomkins' departure will seriously harm the business of the league or Wigan.

In terms of the actual product, I completely agree that he'd be a loss. He is, after all, the league's star player.

Hope he gets smashed every week in nrl . He can take his shaggy haired little brother with him as well cos he's a really cool bloke too must run in the family.

Did someone really just compare messi and Tomkins?

It's not even worth pulling apart and I think Tomkins is an extremely good player.

Totally agree.
A great player who is going to be greatly missed in SL this is true.

Just to put it simply messi is the best footballer of his generation arguably the greatest of all time. He is the dominant player in argubaly the greatest team of all time. He is even now transferring his form to international level for Argentina.

Tomkins is one of best players in basically the second best rugby completion in the world where there are barely any leagues as it is. He is unproven against the the toughest opposition for both club and country.

Even the most bias wigan supporter must surely see this.

In football terms sam Tomkins is a lower end premiership player after a big move to prove himself.

Better than Pele, Johan Cruyff, Di Stefano, Bobby Charlton, Franz Beckenbauer, Platini, Zidane, Puskas, Franco Baresi - are you seriously suggesting he is better than all of these?

You can put messi up against any of those now.

Comparing generations is always tricky as numerous factors will affect the discussion however anybody doubting messi either doesn't understand football or hasn't seen enough of messi.

Time will tell - he is still a young player in a once dominant club side - he has yet to show the club form at international level. The next world cup will the platform to show his greatness - all the others have proved their quality at the highest level something Messi has yet to do.

His form over the last year for Argentina has been reminiscent of his barca form. There is a strong case to be made for the champions league been a stronger competition than the World Cup much as it pains me to say it and messi has dominated that for years.

What's Sinfield then?

The discussion is about tomkins not sinfield.

Roy Race.

The person who you are obsessed with.

A much better person than you

Tomkins is a very good player indeed. I personally don't believe he is the top player in this competition at all though. There have certainly been many better players in this comp over super league era.

If you were picking a team that you wanted as your team, i am not sure he would be in the first five names picked, and yes I know you normally start at fullback.

Sal is right though on players bumping up crowds. I don't think he has used a good example for this though with Tomkins. Not because he is not an exciting player, a bums on seats players, but simply becuase he has progressed from the academy and worked his way up. The crowds tend to flock when a signing is made, or the player is new. So for New Zealand Warriors, yes he would probably be an extra crowd revenue for them.

Who do you think is the top player in the comp?

How do we decide someone is a star player? What makes some one a star? For mine it is an amalgam of ability, attitude, perception and public awareness both positive and negative, but time and the perspective it brings also plays a part. I think Tomkins will be a loss to Wigan, but one from which they will bounce back. I think the attention he brings will also be a loss to the game as a whole in the UK. But RL has much bigger problems to worry about than the loss of one "Star" to the NRL. As others have said at least he hasn't gone to Union, yet.

I think there are a few extremely good players. Some that would be better in a better team, so therefore an unfair comparison.

Not that I think he is one, but I honestly think that if you swapped Eden and Tomkins that Eden would have the same sort of comments and creaming as Tomkins gets. That doesn't make him a better player as such, but just that Tomkins does have a good foundation on what to show his talents.

I would Hardaker in that example, but he does have the foundation to show his talents.

Whoever it was it didn't take a genius to make that prediction and I don't think he/she had to wait until last night's excellent game for an example. Just a pity relatively few among the previous 2,999 SL Regular Round fixtures came close to matching that level of intensity - especially so over the last couple of seasons.

However, McGuire's mistake was that he initially dummied the pass to McShane [uran behind Clarkson[/u who had parked himself in the Wigan defensive line before releasing the ball. While there were several decisions to make last night I don't recall any involved 'crossing' which always has been a major issue - regardless of the written laws.

Same video referee (Ian Smith) last night as well. Was good to hear the former referee's controller struggling to convince even himself that he understands the current interpretations.