Quote ="cadoo"At 19, I will hopefully be doing exactly this in about 40/50 years time. Reminiscing about the great Wigan RL players I've seen in the past and Tomkins will be the first name that springs to mind. Sam Tomkins is the first player I've seen progress from an unknown kid in our academy to a truly world-class Wigan player who is currently the best player of his generation and a future hall of famer. I've never seen a player have the ability to do the things he does on a rugby field without having to watch an old video of the players you've mentioned.
It's a real privilege to watch him play RL. The fact he is a Wigan player - that's just a bonus.'"
Top post.
It was fantastic watching this kid develop into the best player in SL and one of the best players in the world. He was talked about as being a great prospect, but the way he has fulfilled his potential is superb, and the fact that he is a Wigan lad makes it all the more special.
And what a player he has become! There seem to be so few flair players around these days, game breakers who turn a match with a moment of sublime skill - the game is so fast and defences so tight these days.
The fact that Tomkins does things that the great players of old did, that he seems to have as much time on the ball as the greats of yesteryear did, even in the age of full time professionals and very well organised defences tells you everything you need to know about this lad and how very special he is.
I said on this and other boards a season or two ago that I thought Tomkins could be as good as Hanley and possibly even surpass the great man.
I was ridiculed by many; others became angry at my rugby blasphemy (annoying, because I didn't say this lightly, Hanley was an amazing player, a significantly better player than say Farrell, Cunningham and Jason Robinson).
Since then though what I've seen from Tomkins has made me confident that I'm right. This lad is going to be a legend (if he isn't already).
We are lucky he is in RL and even more lucky that he is a Wigan player.
