Im a Wire fan, but I freely admit Sam is a genius. I love to see him play against everyone except us.

He's like any fullback really in that his effectiveness it seriously diminished behind a beaten pack. A good defence will also make it harder for him to stand out because when playing at fullback he has to rely an awful lot on other players to play well and combine before he's brought into play. It has always been the drawback of playing our most dangerous attacking threat at fullback.

Playing an unfit Brett Finch made things so much more difficult. While Shaun Wane said he didn't have any option but to play him (with Powell injured) clearly there was the option of playing Tomkins at stand off and Jack Murphy at fullback. Nothing would have been lost from not having Finch because he could barely put a pass in the right place and while some attacking threat goes with Murphy at fullback he actually also provides a safer pair of hands.

That is why I dont think Tomkins is MoS, he doesnt yet take responsibility for a game.

Finch has been outstanding for Wigan this season imo, he controls the game very very well, and when Lueluai is playing Finch has a bit more time to create space which Tomkins is the best player in SL at taking advantage of. I dont think it is just coincidence that Tomkins has looked poor in games where Finch hasnt fired, which is in games where Lueluai hasnt played.

They work very well as a three, but when O'loughlin, and now Smith has come in to replace Lueluai teams have focused on shutting down Finch which has allowed packs to get on top of them, with less space for Tomkins who is outstanding in broken field and when running wide against stretched defenses.

I think it's always much harder for a fullback to take responsibility for a game. Even the best fullbacks are largely dependent on the ability of other players around them. Of course all of the best fullbacks are in the NRL where even the worst teams have enough talented players to allow their fullbacks to get into the game. If Wigan had Billy Slater in the side it still wouldn't have made any difference in that game. The entire team failed, except for the two wingers, who showed more bottle than all of the forwards put together, especially Thornley who coped well with the aerial threat of Monaghan.

I agree though that Tomkins shouldn't be man of steel. He's had quite a few games where he's just appeared to sit back and also just doesn't stand out enough in big games.
The possible candidates from Wigan should be Finch, Hock and O'Loughlin. O'Loughlin would be ruled out because he's missed games with injury and had a fairly unsuccessful stint in the halves, but when fully fit and at loose forward he's been outstanding yet again. Hock wouldn't win anyway as it would be too controversial.

For me it should be Finch as the current favourite.

Sam never takes kick returns back, its also either winger who runs it back in the hope we can get a quick play the ball were he is then at his most dangerous - so saying he couldnt be bothered as he wasnt returning kicks is false as he doesnt take them back against bottom of the league.

The funniest part was seeing the Wigan 'ultras' fighting amongst themselves!

Brings back memories of that infamous McDonalds video.