Thanks for the genuine response! I was expecting the others!

In a Leeds shirt, he would annoy the hell out of me. As Bailey does with his fight starting (which tbf has calmed down), as Ablett & JJB do with their back chat, as McGuire does with his football style diving skills, as Senior does with his off-field tactics. Sure, I'd defend them in public (that's a fans prerogative though right?!) but hand on heart, it would irritate me.



Again, thanks for the genuine response. It seems if you support another club you're not allowed to take part in a discussion without it seeming like you're bitter & just having a go. Suppose I'd be exactly the same on our board so it's to be expected really.

Agreed, Hanley was similar, but he seemed less "angry at the world" than Sam seems. Sam strikes me as though he got a lot of "you're too little to play RL" when he was a kid, and is still pretty angry about it.

I suppose, it could be put down to a lack of self-confidence, rather than him being over-confident. His game is more than good enough to do the talking for him, but for whatever reason, he feels the need to let his mouth do it as well. As many have (expectedly) said, he really is a cracking player though. Outstanding.

Many of us have watched him a lot more than you have.... Yes he is a niggly ar$e but he was targeted and battered last season in just about every game. But we get a typical british response, critisize the talent.Surely you have not convieniently forgotten the Ablett assault. For me Sinfields constant whinging to the ref is a far worse example to set.

Mate... I'm not here for an argument. Read my posts, not only do I say he's awesome, I also highlight & criticise Leeds players faults. I was here to have a discussion which a couple of your posters are happy to have so if you don't like it just don't get involved and you won't have to get all angry and things.

No drama.

Sam gets far more really rough stuff (and actual dangerous hits around his face) than his fair share - and than most other Sl players have to put up with.

Burrows often takes a few round the face - but then I think that's more to do with his size catching out the larger forwards rather than people targetting him - I think opposition players really do target him with OTT attention.

All credit to him - he keeps getting up and playing hard. If all that opposition fans can moan about him is that he's niggly, milks the occasional penalty (and who has a player in their team that doesn't?) and he looks like ratboy then I don't give a sh*t.

One of the most talented RL players coming through at the moment - the fact he's not a saint doesn't bother me one bit - if he was a headhunter and had sent a number of players to hospital with their teeth missing and their jaws fractured then that would be a different matter.

Not angry in the slightest..... But its just that he does get some big hits off much bigger guys and gets up.... And if you look at the incident where he was banned for punching, he was not even the first one there! And i did say he was a niggly .

He does wind up opposition players there's no doubt.
Sam also takes a battering in most games. Although he took a punch to the face from Cross that was nothing compared to the hammering he was forced to take from Hull FC. Manu should have been binned.
It now seems most team's cheap shot merchants have a go. He sticks up for himself as he can't buy a decision of a referee.
Ablett's case in point, as certain a sending off incident as you'll see yet only a pen, same as not standing square at the ptb.
He always seems to answer them all by scoring a beauty as he did Friday night then to cap it all he draws the game with the kick.
I do have a feeling that this sort of thread re Sam isn't going to go away.

Well, the best way to respond is to show the opposition how basically inept they are at doing the thing they are paid to be good at.

Let's face it, he waltzed through Leeds with relative ease after all the ruckus had died down.

If he has a weakness, it's allowing jerks like Cross and Manu to wind him up. Though so far he's handling it pretty well.

Sam Tomkins reminds me of Shaun Edwards.

Good times to be a Wigan fan.

You have the two most entertaining players in Super League to watch.

1. Sam Tomkins, ball in hand, attacking the defensive line. The chip on Friday night was just sensational.

2. 'Comedy' Amos Roberts hapless bumbling under the high ball. Haven't laughed so much since Lee Smith's late winner in the cup last season.

Something tells me Vernon has just discovered the Wigan message board.

Thought the same when reading it! Kevin Sinfield could have his own whistle!
No Leeds fans question the blatant dis-respect Bailey showed to the ref when he was called out for trying stick his fingers up Farrells nose!!

I presume Cross was at no fault when he ran in to grab the ball! What was he going to do put it in an imaginary scrum, although saying that the way leeds packed down a couple of times their scrum was imaginary!!

As for the original post.
Sam is quality. He as a cockyness due to his natural ability. He is competitive and gives opposition things to think about!
He wouldnt be so hated if he wasnt making teams look silly week in and week out! Im just so glad every other team in super league think hes a an over rated spoilt brat, let him see his career out with us!

Can see where you're coming from and as a non Wigan fan, understand your frustration. However, most of what you see as niggly play is in fact total commitment to the cause. He is a 100% player and gives everything, every game. I'd ask you to try and look in an unbiased way, just how much stick he takes from other teams. When he takes the ball in, as he does repeatedly, it's a given that someone will risk trying to hurt him every time, yet you never hear Madge or the player himself bleating as Agar and Brown did when their key players were getting hammered.

Against Leeds, JJB, Cross, Buderus, Ablett, even sinless Sinfield all had a go. Against Hull and Warrington it was the same. The fact that he reacts like he does says a lot about this courage.

I've never, as yet, seen him go into a tackle with the intention of deliberately hurting someone, most of what he does is pure gamesmanship.

I personally like Danny Maguire but a lot of Wigan fans only see his little cheats he throws in every now and then.

Hello Cruncher, no - I did a bit of trolling on here before last season's play off game. Sort of backfired though .....

"With the Clarkson tackle, he was nowhere near, and yet still got involved. "

So did every other player on the pitch

Well you should have learnt your lesson by now!!

I've thought for some time now that Sam Tomkins is the Wigan equivalent of Danny McGuire. Both players neither set of fans would do without. Hopefully we'll be able to have both fit and on form this year for the 4 nations.

Tomkins is already a better player than McGuire was at his peak. Tomkins is still learning and maturing, his potential is immense - I'm sure he will go on to become one of the all time greats of RL in this country, assuming he can stay injury free.

You mean, assuming one of these cheap shots doesn't actually hurt him.

Compare Tomkins with Eastmond and Myler. All three were touted as the next big thing. Eastmond has had injuries but along with Myler has not set SL on Fire as Tomkins has already done. People keep forgetting he is still young and will get a lot better. Players are targetting him as they think it will make him lose focus. But occasionally you get a sports star that actually gets better with it. John Mcenroe is one i can think of once he got worked up he was unstopable.

Teams think this works with Sam but as Friday proved give him 10 minutes and he can turn a game.

I can't believe you just compared the 2 in the same sentence. HOW DARE YOU.



As for the OP, 100% passion for the game. If a half back didn't have the attitude, then they would get mullered on the pitch from every bigger player.

Well to be honest, pal, you're not much better at it now, either.

The the thing with Tomkins is he does what all good half backs do and gets on the oppositions nerves.

As for the hand trapping I don't blame him I never moan about the guys of yours that do it as the way I see it is that their arm was somewhere it shouldn't have been and so a penalty should be rewarded and it would almost certainly be
missed otherwise.

"Im not a troll................BUT" yeah, right.

The sad thing is, by the law of averages or probability, whatever you prefer, it is inevitable that Tomkins will sooner or later be SERIOUSLY injured. The RFL should then be held responsible for this when it happens, because the blame will lie with them via Cummins.

When a player terrorises teams like Sam does for you, there's bound to be opposition fans moaning about owt they can find.

The hand trapping is annoying, but he's not the only one who does it. Players should be intelligent enough to know he'll try it so don't get your hand stuck in there!

Think imagining him playing for you is a difficult scenario to imagine really and I don't doubt the sincerity of your reply for a minute but I also imagine you would probably be like us and just admire him and enjoy watching him play and get annoyed just as much as us when he gets targetted. Sam doesn't go looking for bother like some players do and this year in particular it is as if other teams are doing their utmost to irritate him and Joel in order to have a punch up and maybe get them sent off the field as a result. I can understand teams wanting to close him down as he is such a talent, just hope he doesn't get badly injured as a result of some of the hits he gets. Having said that both Sam and Joel need to learn how to keep their cool and the officials need to up their game for all teams and make sure no players end up out of this great game we all love for anything any more serious than normal wear and tear injuries. Wont hold my breath on the last one though!