Re: Sam Tomkins : Sat Mar 16, 2013 5:31 am  

When Tomkins hot the big time many could see (but could not admit) he was a great talent. What many people used to love to feed on was the negatives (because simply he didnt play for there team)? He had a air of cockiness but too often that used to cross the line and because "it was Sam" he seemed to get away with it. BUT.....does he still have that same impact. Over the last couple of years we seemed to have had the measure of him. Leeds played him superbly in that semi-final where his performance was way off (yep, i think it was Leeds tactic rather than Sam having an off day). Admittedly he is still amongst the best players in SL BUT I dont think he is now the game-breaker he used to be.

Re: Sam Tomkins : Sat Mar 16, 2013 9:49 am  

Some very fair and unbiased comments on this thread. So thanks for that. I know some of us like a little jibbing and ribbing on the boards, it adds to the fun, but none on the Wire board today from me. All quiet on the west stand front, today!

Re: Sam Tomkins : Sat Mar 16, 2013 11:25 am  

pies-r-us wrote:

Some very fair and unbiased comments on this thread. So thanks for that. I know some of us like a little jibbing and ribbing on the boards, it adds to the fun, but none on the Wire board today from me. All quiet on the west stand front, today!

I think you'll find that everyone (bar a couple) appreciates Sam for the player he is, some just get a little annoyed at some of the things he does on the pitch. Were he to sign for us, all that would change and he would become the hero he is at Wigan. In the early seventies Alex Murphy was very much a 'hate figure' at Warrington. Suddenly he became our player-coach and became a Wire Legend overnight, very similar type of figure within the game.

Re: Sam Tomkins : Sat Mar 16, 2013 11:31 am  

Teessidewire wrote:

I think you'll find that everyone (bar a couple) appreciates Sam for the player he is, some just get a little annoyed at some of the things he does on the pitch. Were he to sign for us, all that would change and he would become the hero he is at Wigan. In the early seventies Alex Murphy was very much a 'hate figure' at Warrington. Suddenly he became our player-coach and became a Wire Legend overnight, very similar type of figure within the game.

The same went for Andy Currier when he played for Widnes, we all hated him.
But when he signed for Warrington we still hated him.

Re: Sam Tomkins : Sat Mar 16, 2013 9:25 pm  

I'm holding fire on praising him until he stays in the game of RL by going to the NRL. He annoys me to love when he's on the pitch because of all the gamesmanship (he doesn't need it in his game, he's a very good player) but he does look like a good lad off the pitch .

Re: Sam Tomkins : Sat Mar 16, 2013 11:16 pm  

He's spent the weekend with Saracens again as part of his transition program. He's also training a day a week on Union tactics and positioning.

If you believe the rumours of course.

I'd love to see him in the NRL, but the whole Saracens/Wigan partnership thing was just a PR wrap-up of the deal for them to sign Tomkins.

Re: Sam Tomkins : Sat Mar 16, 2013 11:28 pm  

i posted on our rumour board a few weeks ago that i dont know where Sam would play in Union

FB needs to kick the ball not run with it
Wingers pretty much the same and he certainly wouldnt get any ball
Centres are like our 2nd rows
and union HB need to be able to pass both ways quickly, dont run and dont do bugger all else

IMO he would be wasted in Union and get bored very quickly whilst picking up a big pay cheque

i think most Wiganers are resigned to the fact that Sam will move on (hopefully we keep him for at least 2 years), but if he went to the NRL then that would be because he wanted to test himself against the best in the world, if he goes to union then it will be for the money and the exposure that he will get, certainly not to play the game

Re: Sam Tomkins : Sun Mar 17, 2013 12:43 am  

The pieman wrote:

if he goes to union then it will be for the money and the exposure that he will get, certainly not to play the game

Well, it's a job, so wouldn't you take the job with more money?

Sam's not like a football player where he's earning £10m+ a year, he needs to maximise his career earnings while he still has a career. His 'skill set' means the only way he can earn more is by moving to the other side of the world and leaving everything behind, or moving down south and changing codes. Whilst it's a completely different sport, the skills he has would transfer over with time and training.

I don't think anybody could be angry at Sam if he went to Union or the NRL. They're the bigger pond, unfortunately.

Re: Sam Tomkins : Sun Mar 17, 2013 10:01 am  

There'sa thread on the Wigan board about Wigan's form without Tomkins. The hard facts are that since 2009 Tomkins has missed 13 games and Wigan's record in those games is:

P 13
W 2
D 1
L 10

They haven't won a game without him for two years now.

Truly, truly shocking stats. Even in our darkest years of Briers dependency we were never such a one man team.

Given that accepted wisdom is that he's off to RU or the NRL (hopefully the NRL as it would be great to see his un-doubtable world class ability challenged and tested on a weekly basis) within 2 years if I was a Wigan fan I'd have a bit more to worry about than how we will address our aging squad. However we do it I'm sure we'll have a better than 2 in 13 winning ratio.

Re: Sam Tomkins : Sun Mar 17, 2013 10:40 am  

Paul Youane wrote:

There'sa thread on the Wigan board about Wigan's form without Tomkins. The hard facts are that since 2009 Tomkins has missed 13 games and Wigan's record in those games is:

P 13
W 2
D 1
L 10

They haven't won a game without him for two years now.

Truly, truly shocking stats. Even in our darkest years of Briers dependency we were never such a one man team.

Given that accepted wisdom is that he's off to RU or the NRL (hopefully the NRL as it would be great to see his un-doubtable world class ability challenged and tested on a weekly basis) within 2 years if I was a Wigan fan I'd have a bit more to worry about than how we will address our aging squad. However we do it I'm sure we'll have a better than 2 in 13 winning ratio.

Great stat. I think defensively they will be okay, I've seen them ina few big games recently and they look great defensively, they do look pathetic in attack without him though.