What a load of rubbish. Eastmond will always be better than tomkins. How you can say he has a better all round game is frankly ridiculous.

Instead of all arguing about who is best, why don't we acknowledge that we have got 3 great prospects for the England team that could hopefully help us compete with the Aussies in the future?

No im talking about the vast majority of his international appearances. Yea ive strecthed my mind back to the disaster that was the England world cup campaign and remembered that he was average at best...

At superleague level he's done great i aint knocking him for that. But he's got a couple of things like certain other players have that Tomkins, Myler, Eastmond and a host of other youngsters dont have.... Too much fear and too much respect for the Aussies.

Exactly what i keep thinking

Who is the better allround half back, Eastmond and Tomkins? If you took off your Anti-Wigan specs off you might actually come to a considered unbiased opinion.

My thoughts exactly. Out with the old, fresh start for the most part please.

Every game they have played in against each other Tomkins has outplayed Eastmond.
Tomkins was young player of the year last year.
Eastmond has been playing in saints first team since 2007 I think. Tomkins has alot more experience to gain.

Tomkins is far better in defence and creates more oppertunities. He has more assists and has a far superiors short kicking game.

Other than that they are both great with ball in hand the only difference I can see there is that Eastmond is alot stronger but Tomkins has till made 41 tackle busts in 15 super league games. They are also both great try scorers although Tomkins has been rather quiet in terms of try scoring this year but I think this has alot to do with our attack being mostly down the edges.

Despite this though I agree that it is fantastic to have 3 quality young halves all learning to be top players at top clubs.

Many people are writing off Myler from the debate but I feel he could have alot to say come the end of the season. We musn't forget that Myler is in a new team but the other 2 are not.

This has got to be the way for england in the future. Allows for all three to be present & all three can be dangerous from these positions. Certainly a mouthwatering prospect. Pointless leaving one out when you can play all three..?

of the three i would put myler & tomkins at halves & eastmond on interchange to make an impact when opposition defence is tiring but i think that mcguire & even burrow are still decent players & worth a shout

Don't forget: Longy left last season. That should give you a hint while you think.






You Pies are so funny. Here are the comparative stats from 2010 off the engage site:

Kyle's written first, Sam's second

Appearances: 15 Appearances: 15
Tries: 13 Tries: 4
Try assists: 6 Try assists: 11
Goals: 63 Goals: 3
Drop Goals: 2 Drop Goals: 0
Metres: 1482 Metres: 942
Carries: 236 Carries: 180
Tackles: 134 Tackles: 240
Offloads: 3 Offloads: 11
Attacking kicks: 74 Attacking kicks: 72
Runs from dh: 3 Runs from dh: 20
Tackle busts: 54 Tackle busts: 41
Marker tackles: 7 Marker tackles: 24
Clean breaks: 14 Clean breaks: 9
40/20: 0 40/20: 1
Kicks in gp: 130 Kicks in gp: 124
Missed goals: 18 Missed goals: 0
Missed tackles: 14 Missed tackles: 16
Errors: 15 Errors: 11
Penalties: 7 Penalties: 9
Red/yellow cards: 0 Red/yellow cards: 0

To me those stats just say that they play different games, which is what you'd expect given that they play different positions. Why you have to insist that one is better than the other I really don't know. It's so funny.

Most Wigan fans dont claim Tomkins is better than Eastmond, just because a few on here say that you generalise all Wigan fans

I'm proper laughing at some Wigan fans on this thread... Cheers boys.

Anti Wigan specs... Don't flatter yourselves... I dislike saint helens more than you.

Tomkins is good... But he isn't as good as eastmond.

gotta agree with you there

Of the three I would argue that only Myler is a proper scrum half. Tomkins is a natural number 6 while Eastmond can play anywhere in the back division and hooker, although most would agree that Eastmond's best position is where he can run into the play and create havoc - be that at 6 or 1.

In years to come if those three aren't the crux of the England side then it hopefully means someone even better is on the scene...

Eastmond has played a few times at fullback and he isn't really that good there. Leon is better, which is why he moves into the position when we are suddenly left without a fullback, which we have been on a number of occasions this season. Kyle proved himself a brilliant centre last season when he stood in for Wheeler but he's developing into a very good scrum half.

I haven't seen enough of Myler to comment, really. Anyway, Kyle won't be playing against France as he is out injured now so I would imagine it will be a Tomkins/Myler combo unless our new national coach goes all traditional on us.

Without doubt tomkins and eastmond should be the halfbacks.

I think myler will be top class player and is more a ball playing 7 which means it takes a little longer to shine. The more he matures the better he will be.

2011 will be the year myler shines.

Myler won't be fit for the international

If Myler is playing well enough to stop Tomkins or Eastmond being our first choice half backs in the Quad Nations, then we'll have gone very close to winning Super League. Until he was injured, I would have had him 3rd, although he plays such a different game it's hard to compare.

It'll be interesting to see how Eastmond reacts having just been knocked out of Britain's Got Talent.

Excellent comment. Unfortunatly too many people in this country are more interested in how many of their clubs players are picked rather than the best.

To answer the OP you offered us 2 scrum halves and 1 stand off so i would pick Eastmond and Tomkins as i feel Eastmond offers a little more at the moment. However think Maguire, Burrow and Pryce may have something to say about it. I also think, under Tony Smith Briers has matured into a far better player and ought to be in with a shout, age would be against hin though.

So what did I say which was wrong?

He has more assists. Fact.
You can't measure the kicking games by how many they have done, it doesn't judge the quality of the kicks.

Tomkins is clearly better in defence.

I don't quite know what you are getting at really.

And yes I know longy only just left but Eastmond has still been playing in the first team for quite a few years, he has also played in many big games.

Briers plays for Wales

WTF is going on in Wigan fans heads ?

You think Joel Tomkins is 'world class' and you believe Sam Tomkins is going to be better than Eastmond! Sams gone 100 yards backwards this season.

I'd currently have Danny Mc above Tomkins for the International.

As for Myler i just think his very unlucky he is around the same age as Eastmond because any other era and he'd be the starting 7. Like Saints or not Eastmond is definately special.

So let me get this straight...

Wigan fans think Tomkins is the best player...
Saints fans think Eastmond is the best player...
Warrington fans think Myler is the best player...

Interesting...

Check the missed tackles; check the tackle busts. What you aren't seeing is the kind of games they play. Look at the carries; look at the yards made. Kyle plays more of an attacking game, he is a scrum half. To compare accurately you would need to compare between Leon Pryce and Sam Tomkins (and even then this season Leon's stats would be skewed as he has played full back on at least four occasions). Comparing stats, like you originally were doing, between a scrum half and a stand off is like comparing apples and pears. They have different roles and different styles of play. That's what I was getting at.

If I wanted to find out 'who was the best scrum half' (in stats anyway), I would need to compare Kyle with Richie Myler but I'm not going to do that (a) because it's really petty and (b) he's injured so the stats would be skewed. I think the most important thing is that we have some great young players coming through with real talent that, if coached properly at international level, will offer a real and genuine challenge to the other hemisphere. If only all clubs had taken care to nurture native centres and wingers as well we might actually have had a backline to worry the Aussies this season.