well if you did you would just see josh dugan is just another good player (strong and fast) not special and sam tomkins is, and tomkins is also alot better than stewart was we he was sam's age. stewart's best season was last season and doesn't look half as good just watch the world club challenge for proof.

how is me saying i watch every game of the nrl patronising? i know for a fact you dont get to watch all the nrl games in the uk unless you download them? but i do watch them all and get to see all the players in the nrl and tomkins is joint 2 best full back in the world maybe 3rd if inglis keeps it up as he is looking better than slater atm.

You know what i had a talk a couple of weeks ago someone else said the same to me but we all expect it from Sam week in and week out and he doesn't let us down we are so used to it people dont take on how good of a game he does have

People are looking more at the likes of Finch and Micky Mac which tbh have been awesome this season but the amount of tries what have come from Sam this season is unreal

That 2nd try on Sat is what people do in training to have the balls to pull that off in a big game like that is very classy

Inglis is the best fullback in the game. He just also happens to be the best centre in the game by an absurd margin so before he moved away from Slater it always made more sense to have GI elsewhere, and still does for Origin and . Slater is then next and then there is a significant gap. Slater often looks better, but when was the last time he played without Smith, Cronk, Thurston, Lockyer in the pivots? Would be interesting to see how he would perform with a poor spine like Souths'.

Dugan showed great potential but he is looking to have a career ruined by injury perhaps even more that Stewart, Minichello etc, just due to the sheer persistance, rather than really bad injuries. Gordon looks similar at the moment, but it is always hard to distinguish when the players are older if this is just good form or real class finally showing through. Perhaps his good form before the injury was a run of good form like Roberts had here, never to return? Barba is all attack and no defence, it's come on massively this season but I don't see this ability surviving an injury or age, as soon as his speed drops even slightly he's gone imo, needs to develop more skill as a 3rd pivot rather than just a killer runner and support player. Hayne is another who could be anything, but is dragged down by an embarrassingly poor team around him. He's the only player to destroy the NRL by himself in 09, but the expectations on him are just absurd, like putting Sam in the Widnes team and expecting them to start winning games. Boyd is overrated. Coote and Gardner are ok, not much more.

IMO Sam is behind Slater and Inglis (once Inglis really starts going, if uninjured a Dally M at the end of the year wouldn't surprise me despite Slaters awesome form too), though if Hayne was in a decent team he could easily be in Slater's class if not Inglis', who knows.

We really aren't likely to see better than Sam for a very, very long time though imo. Really special.

Sam Tomkins > Josh Dugan or Brett Stewart

If Sam goes to union he will be back within 2 years. His style of play just doesn't fit into Union. No matter where they play him on the pitch he simply can't be as 'off the cuff' as he is in league because he'd lose the ball if he got tackled as he'd have run away from his forwards. He couldn't run across the line and back like against Salford or Hull KR and he certainly couldn't try what he did on Sunday. He just wouldn't work in Union so I do honestly believe that if he leaves Wigan then it will be to the NRL especially now they're raising their cap.

Roy? Brian? Matty? It can't have been me I never saw Ryan play...................................oh oh oh was it Ste?

Been watching since 1980 and he's already right up there with the best for me. The only thing stopping him becoming a Wigan or RL legend is injury or unfortunately going over to the rah rah game. I agree with Conroy that his game wouldn't suit and he would come back.

Would love to see him in NRL (after he's done another 5 or 6 years with us). I don't watch NRL, but genuinely don't get the Slater hype. Every time I've seen him play he always makes mistakes. (Last state of origin yet another example.) I'm convinced that if he went over there people would then give him the credit he deserves and put him in the truly world class bracket. Yes, he probably would score as many tries due to better defenses, but he would still terrorise opposition defenses wherever he played.

It is interesting to see that some people think that Sam is a lot quieter this year. Last year, I thought too much was put on him and at times, especially when Pat Richards was injured, he was a one man attacking machine. By the end of last year and from the Challenge Cup onwards he looked like he was carrying a few knocks, had issues with his shoulder and began to look a bit stale. This year Wigan are scoring more points and Sam Tomkins is providing opportunities as well as finishing them. I think this is a much better situation for both Sam Tomkins and Wigan. In the current try scoring charts, Josh Charnley is top with 20 and Sam is the only fullback in the top 10 with 13 tries - not bad for a quiet season!

the lad is a freak , and i mean that in the nicest possible way

as allready mentioned , his footwork and vision are his greatest assets

he can see the play 3 or 4 seconds ahead of others , so he is in the right position when it matters


he has scored trys that he simply shouldnt have , the elusiveness and style of running he employs , coupled with the strength that shouldnt be there makes this KID very very special indeed , i am honoured and priveleged to witness what he does



same class as the black pearl ? hhmm very difficult as pearl was a born leader and winner , for me pearl stills nudges it , but god only knows what sam is going to do next , he certainly doesnt !

As I have since said, I added Slater and Johnson in to that. On form Sam is better than Benji Marshall IMO too

[urlmenmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/sport/rugby_league/s/1559695_sam-tomkins-michael-mcllorum-setting-the-tone-for-raised-performances?rss=yes&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RugbyLeague-Sport-ManchesterEveningNews-RssFeed+%28Rugby+league+-+Sport+-+Manchester+Evening+News+-+RSS+Feed%[/url

Raising the bar to new heights and building momentum is mine and Wigan’s goal from now until the end of the season. We are really starting to hit our straps and hooker Michael McLlorum is playing out of his skin. I have been singing his praises all year and he is one of the form players in Super League – a quality forward and a real big asset. We have been fortunate enough to beat arch rivals Saints three times so far and McLlorum has won his battle with James Roby. It is not that Robes has played badly - we have done our homework and come up with plays to combat Saints’ threats. Robes is a pivotal player but McLlorum is tough, aggressive, good in the loose and very strong defensively. Our man has definitely had the edge. The Magic Weekend win over Saints was special. The venue was perfect, the fans bought into it and this could prove to be a significant win. We are five forwards down for tonight’s game at Leeds and we are expecting a tough contest. The Rhinos will be fired up but we aim to notch it up. As a Super League player I consider myself to be in a very privileged position. It is a dream job and if I am honest, when you start out, you never expect to progress to the very top. It is a case of graduating and learning all the time. Most young lads in Wigan will say they want to play for Wigan, but it is not so easy. No one can become a professional player from what I would term a fluke situation.

You have to work mighty hard, make sacrifices, be totally dedicated and you need a few lucky breaks. I simply love playing the game and I am proud to play for Wigan. My feet are firmly on the ground – my mum and dad make sure of this. I have the same friends that I did when I was at school and I welcome constructive criticism from those people who are close to me. You have days when you score a hat-trick of tries but they’ll still pull you up about the knock on in the 78th minute – this is what I mean about staying level headed and firmly focused. Things are going well for Wigan, we are coming into our own and Shaun Wane, the coach, is bringing out the best in all the players. Shaun is a winner. Having played for Wigan, he knows all about the pride that goes into pulling on a Wigan shirt and what the fans expect. Some big games are looming but these are the ones you want to be involved in and to be on this stage .

He was fantastic tonight.

What a player!

As I said



And Ive been saying it for 12 months now.
As good as anything I've seen at Wigan!

The problem is, of course, that RU will already be preparing its big play for him in three years' time. Yet again - as with Joel, they'll be talking the highest stakes imaginable - "England cannot win the World Cup without Sam Tomkins", and other such calculated defeatist rubbish.

Wouldn't it be great if, in anticipation of this, RL was preparing its own strategy to try and keep him? Perhaps setting up a new 'Club England' arrangement whereby the game's crack players can have their players topped up from a central fund to match anything the RU can muster.

Cue all The "Gaz Hock shouldnt get anything" jokes!

paul cullen said something very similar last night on commentary

If anyone fancies a giggle, go onto the TotalRL board, where you can sit back and enjoy the efforts of a few oddballs who, over a period of several posts, gradually manage to convince themselves (if no-one else) that Sam is massively overhyped, has a terrible attitude and is basically nowhere near as good as we think he is.

One of them even ends his rant with "no wonder the Aussies laugh at us".

I'm guessing the irony of that passed him by.

As much of a great player he is and can go on to be,he really needs to test him self in the NRL.Its all very well only playing against 4 good teams a season plus the rest of SL.But to be truely classed as great he needs to try his luck in the NRL.

This is just wishful thinking from super league opposition fans though.

You don't think that's what they're ding do you? The sly little devils!



BTW, surely if all our best players go over there to "Test" themselves" then any future potential greats will have to keep going there as well?
This may be a novel thought but why don't we try and keep our best players over playing rugby league and try and get the standard of our comp better?
A bit radical I know and one not likely to get me a job at the RFL but it may be worth a shot?

PS

I don't see many calls on other fans boards (There's one board in particular) for any of their players to "Test" themselves so I'm guessing they don't think any of their players are potential "Greats" or stand any chance of improving as players by "Testing" themselves in the NRL so aren't clamouring for it to happen?

When they were young players there was talk that Mcguire & Burrow should try the NRL. Also, a few years before his "Blackpool Beach" comment there was similar talk about Leon Pryce.

Of course it is. The reality is that we need as many of our top players to stay over here as possible. The NRL domestic comp doesn't need them, but ours does.

They can try and prove themselves against the best in the world when we play the Aussies at Test level.

My only worry is , it is a long season, I would like him to have a rest for the Exiles weekend but that is not going to happen.

Waney is apparrently planning on giving Tomkins a rest around that time when we play some of the "weaker" teams and giving Matty Russell a go at full back