Think that's a silly comment. Wello was untouchable for 2/3 years in his prime. He was scoring tries, great under high ball ( still is), great in defence( still is).

It's early days to be saying that Tomkins is the better fullback over wello. Wello has done it for ten years yet Sam is only in his 2nd year at fullback.

I'll admit tho, if Sam carries on his progress ( I think he will ) then he'll be up their with the great fullbacks/players this country had produced. He's a fantastic talent and exciting to watch. My heart stops every time he gets the ball.

To be honest, I don't lime the lad, he's very sly but its the winning of penalties he gets from holding the defender down by locking the defenders arm under his arm and neck. He doesn't need to do that silly stuff.

Forget the tomkins v wellens debate, the person who stated that sam tomkins is a more exciting talent than benji marshall needs to go and have a long lie down.

Depends on the perspective, as a Wigan fan S Tomkins is more of an exciting prospect than Benji.

Wellens was and remains a true professional and deserves to be an all time Saints legend for his dedication, work ethic and excellent rugby brain, but even at his peak Wellens was limited by one crucual factor - a serious lack of pace - that stopped him from being world class. When Wigan fans point this out they aren't having a go at Wellens (despite the Slug jibes Wellens is respected by most Wigan fans), they're having a go at Saints fans and the RL media who got ridiculously overexcited about him. Wellens may have won lots of individual honours but that says more about the weakness of British RL in the era he has played in. You just have to think about the ludicrous comparison Badwanger made (see my sig) between Jonathan Davies and Wellens to understand the difference between a truly gifted, genuinely world class player and a hard working player who has done a fantastic job within his limitations (and to see how far the game has gone backwards from the mid '90s to the mid noughties).

Fear of being tackled? Are you serious? If there's one thing Sam does get criticism for, it's taking on the line too much when a pass might be the better option.

Tomkins junior will never be as good at fullback as Wellens. In his pomp Wellens was outstanding, whereas t'other one was totally ineffective on the big stage last season against the Kiwis and Australians. And this season, most teams have worked out that peppering him with high balls, and a robust

chase that tackles him before he can get running soon knocks him off his game.

Eventually, the penny will drop, and maybe your new manager will play him in his natural position, where he will be an outstanding no 6.

That's assuming he doesn't follow your current coach to sunny Oz.....

hold on...how many good games did Wellens play for GB and how many times did he play? Compare than against Sams in 10 years.

I agree, wello does and always lacked pace but in his pomp he over come this with his positional play in supporting players. Every time the was a break he was there in support. His try scoring proves that in them 3yrs.

So what I'm saying, he overcome his lack of pace with his rugby brain and world class positional play.

In 2006, he was the stand out player in what for me, was the greatest ever saints team!

He won the man of steel and harry sunderland award.

Also in 2006 GB beat Aus in their own back yard

So he was a stand out player in what was quite a good time for British RL

get over it, its nothing new, leeds have been chucking a dozen a game since before the days of them having Calderwood, but because we chuck a few flat (and forward) passes it immediately needs to be urgently addressed



IMO the linesment dont have much to do and if they cant even get this right then there aint much point having them. they have clearly been told only to flag for blatant forward passes

Not being funny there's no denying Sam is a very fine player but to put him in the same league as Slater,Marshall etc is BS.

Well said.

What some people don't seem to realise is that believe it or not Sam has only played one full season as a first choice player.

Exactly and over time he has the potential to be a truly world class player at this moment though he isn't.

partly yes, however the op and others posted making sweeping generalisations, i cannot however assess how scared an individual may be at a given time so yes your right. the issue i have is the ability to slate every one for the actions of a minority, i didn't come on here to score points just to give an opinion, i also feel you exagerate a tad, was it really "full" of stories of holiganism? or a few issolated incidents, given rise to this current hysteria?

oh and less of the "rubbish arguements" if you don't mind!
p.s where's these stats?

Not a chance he will go to Aus.

you his dad? how can you make that statement?

Uncle Fred.

fred side? ok! must be on his mothers side then

I'm judging more off the fact theres at least 2 or 3 long threads about stuff thats happened whereas theres none so far about Saints.
For example the last wire game I remember the guy who was beat up near the North Stand
And the one before there was the Wire fan who busted someone on here's wifes nose
And theres the fact that I myself have had a big Vodka bottle thrown at me while getting in my car after last seasons game at Wigan by some young yobs (who definitely were not old enough to be drinking that Vodka on the coach btw)

But yes I agree it is unfair to tar the entire group of Wire fans for the minority's actions but sadly that is how these things tend to work. Look at Millwall in soccer lol.

I will admit the Wire fans causing it seem to be the "new" fans the young chavs that would never have gone before they started winning things. (dont know about the bust nose incident I dont know how old the guy that did that was)

He was homesick when he went over with the england squad no way he will go and live out there

perhaps your focusing on the negatives a little too much, i witnessed bad behaviour from wigan fans this season post match, but didn't mention it on rlfans (until now, i think) but i also sit in the 3 pigeons every year and have the crack with wigan fans pre match, so i can see where your coming from to a degree but tarring all fans with the same brush or blowing incidents out of proportion paints an untrue picture of what's really going on imo. every club has it's young idiots who can't take their drink and when they get caught missbehaving they'll get their come uppance. in the mean time i'll get my pipe bombs ready for when you visit later in the year!

people change, we'll see.

Correct. it's something sadly that many fans of all clubs do. Look at the threads on most Rl fans sites to confirm.

I'll discuss Rugby League all day with other fans, and we'll disagree. However I'll also sit with them pre and post match and have a beer. That's how I was brought up, and that's the way it should be. I don't like segregated stadia, it creates far more problems than it solves, but makes it easier to steward.

The MAJORITY of Rugby League fans are superb and can be humorous, and it's up to them to sort out the few idiots that attach themselves to our clubs.

Rant over.

Agree the worst it used to be when I started going was "hope you lose" and people laughed it off but as we all know success brings the idiots back. I luckily live in newton so have been brought up not having any choice but to get on with other teams fans and tbh I wouldn't have it any other way fighting over rugby is pathetic there's simply no need to fight let alone over rugby!

Great post Rogues,agree with you entirely and this is what RL is all about.