immense wherever he plays

Cheers for the non-defensive post.

The wirey build thing is another reason why Tomkins reminds me of Dugan. They don't look like they can do much, but they're both extremely difficult to tackle. Dugan actually topped the list for tackle breaks in the NRL this season, 192. That's the second most by any player ever and he's only 20.

Tomkins also wears red boots, doesn't he?

The official sites certainly seem to be miles off if compared to the Superleague site! I suppose the official sites include cup games too though that doesn't explain away the big differences

Assuming the Superleague site is correct, Kyle had made more Superleague appearances going into the 4-Nations..

However it's worth noting that, although Kyle played games in 2007 and 2008 (2 and 13 respectively) - in 2009 alone Sam made only 7 appearances fewer than Kyle had made in his whole career spanning 2007/2008/2009.

What that shows to me is that Sam was a SL regular half-back in 2009, where as Kyle was still an in-and-out bit part player due to Long/Pryce being at the club.

When judging experience going into the 4 Nations, Sam had been a first choice half back at Wigan for the best part of a season, whereas Kyle had never been a first choice half back at Saints.

Sam had also made nearly twice as many 2009 Superleague appearance as Kyle going into that series and importantly - most of them in the position he would play for England.

Tomkins made 21 starts and 6 sub appearances in 2009. SL debut was vs Quins in Round 4.

The lad was in and out all season though until that numpty Tim Smith broke his wrist at Hull KR, then Sam really stepped up to the big time of playing 6 week in week out for the team.