So long as he gets the same punishment as Briers got for his 1 finger salute live on Sky Tv, then I'll be happy (i.e. the square root of bugger all).

Neutral viewers? Did the BBC ask them who they supported when they made the complaint just to make sure they were not the stay at home Rhinos fans? I am sure some of them were neutral but I think you are being very naive if you think at least some of them did not have an agenda.

That said Sam Tomkins should not have given them the ammunition.

The statement I have just read from Wigan on the BBC web site was inevitable given what he did and the way it was highlighted by the BBC. Equally it might be a good time now for Leeds to make a statement that excessive abuse of players is not part of the game. If Sam were black and he got that much abuse it would be called racists and Leeds would be in the dock over their fans behaviour. That is not an excise for ST but a bit of perspective.

Questions
How could booing a player possibly be seen as racism ? If , as DaveO suggested , 'he was black' , then surely any boos directed at him would have to be accompanied by something else to make the booing racist . ST has been booed by opposition fans simply because they don't like him as a player .

Was it only Leeds fans that did it at Headingley ? I am aware that the reports state that he was booed in 'the Exiles game by fans at Leeds' NOT 'by Leeds fans at the Exiles game' . Same seven words , just in a different order .
If he gets booed at Wembley in the international game I guess it must be by the Quins fans as they are the local SL team . What would the excuses be if he was booed in an international match held at Wigan ?
And finally .
Could somebody please explain what a flat track bully is ? Is there also an up-hill track bully , and a down-hill track bully ?

You know what I mean so stop being pedantic. The abuse ST has got is way beyond the norm and you know it.

I M O Sam should not of put 2 fingers up to the fans... He should of ran up to them with the Challenge Cup but he couldn't cos nearly 95% of their fans had gone before their team were presented with their losers medals.
Sorry couldn't resist that...but in all honest opinion Sam was wrong to do what he did but what everyone forgets is he is young and maybe he did let the occasion get to him and he has said sorry and been fined. That should be the end of the matter as in other cases discussed in previous posts. I attended the Leeds v Wigan play off game when Smith jumped on a speaker and abused Wigan fans swearing and 2 handedly doing what Sam did but I didn't hear you Leeds fans saying how bad he was and that he should be banned. Hypocrisy is the name of your game. I have spoken to Sam on many many occasions and he is not arrogant or cocky at all.. I think many are confused by his confidence and think it's arrogance. I've never heard him abuse the ref or other players. Sledging is and always has been part of the game.. As it is in all competitive sports
If the abuse and constant baiting continues we may lose one of the greatest Rugby League talents to enter our game for a long time to the dark side and who can blame him if he did.When he wears an England shirt we should support him...after all I do when Maguire plays for us and I'm not his fan at all.
On a different matter Bailey in my opinion should be arrested for what he did to that young lad

What utter tosh. James Graham gets worse. He not only gets booed but also gets the chant of 'fat ginger ' at most matches, including those against Wigan. He's never flicked the vs at any fans.

Are you for real?



The vitriol aimed at Sam Tomkins is unprecedented. That doesn't condone or excuse his behaviour.

But the morons trying to drive of our sport the most talented player in at least a decade out need to take a long, hard look at themselves. The routine and casual abuse of Sam - "runt", "ratboy" are just some of the things that make it through the swear filter - on rlfans.com is appalling.

Not that they will ever acknowledge that they've done anything wrong, though. Just like the lying, Wigan-hating fools that claimed to support the SC in its current form on this board for years and accused Wigan fans of only opposing it because we wanted to be back on top of the game at all costs. (Well, we are back on top, and guess what, we still think the SC needs changing, because it is not helping the game!)

There's a massive cross-over between the anti-Wigan nutters not wanting any change to the SC and the Wigan hating morons who have latched onto Sam as a symbol of everything they despise about Wigan and now want to drive him out of our game. Muppets!

It's no wonder RL has remained a small sport. A big part of its fanbase are small minded fools.

Iam a saints fan all this bitterness directed at Sam Tomkins is because he is a match winner all match winners are hated by opposition fans because you wish he was in your team , James Graham is given abuse players in the past got abuse like Edwards before that Murphy .Sam Tomkins will get this abuse for all his career ,Wigan have fined him he has apologised and that should be the end of the matter .

I fail to get too indignant over players giving a bit back to the fans myself. However, they need to learn better, for the simple reason that fans pay to be there and players are paid to be there. Like it or lump it, players need to be professional. The kid needs to learn from this, as more is expected.

Let's not make too big a fuss about it though. He'll grow up as time goes on, and I'm personally looking forward to his second Wembley appearance in November. Fine, smack wrists, go do some RL-based community work for a few hours more than usual. End.

Chrisirvine Chris Irvine
Sam Tomkins is not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy ... #rugbyleague
9 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
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@Wiganchicky
Donna Alder
@Chrisirvine don't you jump on the bandwagon. This doesn't need refuelling. I thought you would have a longer memory than most!

Is Irvine really such a knob?

If he hadnt been booed playing for England would he have done it? No. Doesnt excuse him from doing it. Hes given more ammunition to those who want to knock him!

He was stupid to do it and has been fined and apologised, but if the Leeds fans cant take it dont give it!

There was a group of 15 leeds fans giving us the fingers when they got back to 16-14 we banning them?

Did the RFL ban Eastmond or Lee Smith?

Or King, Myler Mathers or Millward, and I'm sure I remember Long doing it to us too??

He works for The Times, that should answer your question.

As a Leeds fan, I wasn't particularly offended by Tomkins flicking the "v". As a rugby league supporter, I'm slightly irritated that his actions have deflected a significant proportion of media coverage away from the more important aspects of what was a great final. Hopefully your club will make him better aware of his responsibilities. Providing they do, it should go no farther as far as I'm concerned.

To be honest how many Leeds fans saw his guesture..probably not many but cos it was shown on the BBC ( a channel who never cover our game favourably IMO) they are claiming they did. Everyone should watch it again. On the replay of the try from the side angle Harrison Hansen and Joel Tomkins also react to something at the same time. Maybe someone said or did something to them. I am not for one minute excusing Sam but think people need to get a reality check. Players from other teams behave badly but they are not the big draw for the media as Sam is.

Ive had an argument with him on there too. He's the type of idiot that you can prove wrong and still he will carry on as if he's right. Massive idiot.

What exactly is so bad about that?

Because he was trying to reignite it I think.

I think he just thought it was a funny thing to say (although it isn't really)

He has previous though. Its like Ryan Bailey he may actually hit someone high by accident one day but because its him noone will ever believe he didnt intend to do it.

You won't get too many high shots from Bailey, Jamie Peacock actually makes plenty more, but I appreciate that doesn't fit with the agenda

I agree with you. To be doing high shots Bailey would have to turn up earlier to the tackle than being 3rd or 4th man! There is normally to many players in the way or the player is lying face down by time Bailey comes with his cheap shots!

I was merely commenting on the idea that he's got a history of high shots, which appears to be a figment of hula89's imagination. The other areas of his game are another debate for another time. There's a nice long thread on Southstander for that kind of stuff

.

Well that just shows he has such a bad reputation that I just assumed that would be another dirty tactic he'd employ so it, in effect, supports my argument.

OK then