I wouldnt for the same reasons I wouldnt have Rads over Sam at FB

Rads was one of my favourite players will always remember the tackle he did when Higham had only 10 mtrs to go to the line whilst playing for stains and like a missile Rads came from nowhere to not only flatten Mickey but dislodge the ball a absolute brilliant textbook hit.
I did mention this to him at one of those end of season things but he just looked at me ,he was worse for wear as was I lol.
I couldnt chose between Tompkins or Rads but you know you would have to find a spot for Tomkins somewhere on that team.

Same for me. Rads like Wellens at Saints were very good fullbacks and GREAT clubmen, but Sam had the x-factor. Some talk about his defence being poor but I remember him winning the game for us at Cas with three great tackles on Denny Solomona.

Correct
And I thought long and hard about extending my original post but didn't.
Because for every mistake Tomkins made, I could pick out one that Rads did and vice versa
And all we do then is criticise one or the other to deliegitimise the other, when the reality is at their time they were both the best this country had to offer.

Rads was very good, but just because Tomkins "Could" play somehwere else its a cop out to select him there. Rads probably played more games at centre for us than Tomkins did half back.

If you did pick Tomkins at FB you wouldn't have the response "But we have to get Rads in somehwere" because you don't.

But Tomkins has to be in

PS

On a 4hr flight recently me and another poster on here picked our best 17
As I went back a bit further (and deliberately to avoid the George Fairburn question) we went from 81/82

No1 - Sam Tomkins (Both massive fans of Rads) but Tomkins was Special

I'll reveal the full team later

The game has massively changed. Would Rads even move to fullback nowadays or would he come through in the centres and stay there? Gary Connolly is one of the best defensive fullbacks I have seen when he played there but I don't think you would dream of putting him there nowadays unless you really had to.

As I said on a previous post, I still think the job of my fullback is to be able to catch anything and tackle anything. If they can then be a major attacking threat even better but that's a bonus.

I think that's why it's hard to compare players from past eras. Forwards didn't get the breaks they get nowadays for example with the number of subs and probably took more high shots and late shots than they do now BUT someone like Kelvin Skerrett would probably be blowing out his backside with the pace of the game now.

I particularly enjoyed his defensive performance in April 1989.

Let's not make out Tomkins cost us numerous big games defensively - He was pretty good, but I admit Rads was better
However Ball in Hand - Tomkins was way ahead, and although hard to explain, Tomkins ability ball in hand contributed to our defensive capabilities and he organised the team well
But Simply put He frightened other teams ball in hand and was certainly part of the change in British RL from defensive solid most important type full backs to attacking,3rd pivot, running Full backs.

For sure. Sometimes it's hard not to fall into the trap of slating one player to make your case for another. I can remember a CC semi against Leeds and an international against Aus where he came unstuck and cost us points, but it certainly wasn't an every week kind of thing. For me it was more whether I preferred Radlinski or Williams/Lam in the 17. I think almost everyone agrees Tomkins would have to be in there, and I stand by his ability to play in the halves, he tore it up there in 09 and early 10.

So he's a better FB than Rads then?

Depends which team has the ball

Following on from last nights quiz regarding fullbacks me and Liam had a discussion this morning about Sam Tomkins. Had Chris Melling not tragically suffered that acl injury so early in his career would Sam have ever took that fullback spot? Melling was not only a great fullback in the making but was also a superb goalkicker and a very good captain and reader of the game, such a shame that we never got to see him progress. Mind you he also played centre for England academy, so who knows.

I'm not shoehorning Rads in at centre to get Tomkins in

We'll never know, but I don't think Melling was destined for the 1 jersey. Ashton came through not long after, which I think would have spelled the end for Melling at Wigan given that we had cover in Colbon, Sean Gleeson and Goulding. Don't forget we were still fairly poor at converting youngsters into regular starters at the time Melling was coming through as well. Nearly all the youngsters we produced around that time ended up forging decent SL careers at other clubs. If he came through a few years later then maybe.

That CC semi was a massive upset. Wigan had all the stars and were flying.
The very bad aspect of Tomkins came out, when he stopped playing mid action and starte chasing the ref, leaving a massive hole for Hardaker to stroll through...
I remember laughing at the time, looked so comical and amateur like....

Yeah there was a season when he came back from NZ where he seemed to spend every game doing that, combined with wrapping himself around defenders looking for a penalty. I thought he was done, but the season after he screwed his head back on and played brilliantly again in his last season for us (albeit in more of a creative role) and has continued to do so for Catalans. He's a clear choice for England this time for me.

I think he might actually be better suited to internationals now then he was at his blistering best. He looks to have worked so hard on his defence, his organisational skills and his play making. There’s very little space in internationals against the top sides and a lad who can blitz superleague defences with his individual running game won’t find it as easy to find space against the Aussies and Kiwis but if you’ve got a lad with the ability to be a play or two in front and work space for others than your chances improve.

He’s absolutely nailed on for the fullback shirt IMO. I’d personally have him in the conversations for the captaincy.

Agreed. Except I'd have him in the halves now too

not a massive fan of Lomax. In tough games against us I think he tends to spend a lot of time on the floor getting treated, then go missing. The aussies and kiwis often get nasty when they sense an upset, ask Long and Deacon who both got serious facial injuries in internationals we have won.

Agreed. Not even a discussion about fullback. He was back to his very best last year....

I can’t think of anyone else I’d want at fullback tbh or I’d consider it. I think Lomax deserves a crack at six. He’s played a few games for England but they seem to have been at fullback or cameos off the bench. One issue I’ve got is that I think we need a top level goal kicker as well and a player to kick us around the field and I don’t think Lomax, Williams or Tomkins bring that. At the minute I’d probably go 1-Tomkins, 6-Lomax and 7-Gale and have George Williams covering the halves and hooker from the bench.

I’ve read a few people saying how poor the halfback options are at the moment but we’ve been in worse spots in the last 20-30 years. It’s tough to really judge it because we hardly play any internationals but the lads available are playing for top teams here and in Williams case, holding down a spot at one of the best teams in the NRL. It’s not all bad IMO.

Just realised I totally forgot Gale. Dur. Disregard my last post. Tomkins at FB, Williams and Gale in the halves.

I had a front row seat to the tackle on Deacon at Huddersfield, was one of the most blatant shots that I’ve seen, the damage nearly killed him.

That shot had nothing to do with Winning instinct. Was one of the worst things I've seen on a rugby field.
As bad as the assault on Ronan O 'Gara, which you can watch in graphic detail on YouTube

Spot on.

I think one thing that does tend to get overlooked a little with Faz is his goal kicking, to be able to play the way he did but also convert from our wide under pressure was outstanding, not forgetting his drop goal ability too.

Double post

Just scored a cracking try..