My thought too. Townsend constantly picked the wrong option in attacking positions; Johnson was completely anonymous throughout; the fringe defence was embarrassing on both edges; the pack was dominated; plenty of soft errors in their own half (notably Vatuvei and Lousi).

What exactly is a fullback supposed to do when the entire team in front of him is being dominated like that? Tomkins' passing game was pretty much perfect in selection and execution, his running game was poor and he wasn't elusive/balanced enough to mitigate his light weight and the fact that he's a known target. He made a pretty bad error under a bomb under plenty of pressure from Hayne (who arguably knocked Tomkins' hands out of the way just before he tried to catch) but beyond that he was one of the better players in a well-beaten team. Round 1 performances like that from the Warriors are hardly unusual though.

Not disagreeing with your main point, but Ellis was not 'ordinary' in his first season at Wests, he was exceptional and took their player of the year award.

Sam had a pretty up and down 1st game, a few mistakes he probably wouldn't normally make, and a few great passes to counter.

Its a new league, a new team and two new countries for him, it will take time, but he is TOP quality, he will get on well in the NRL and once the Warriors sort out their pretty flat attack they will get him the space he needs.

The Warriors edge defence was abysmal, particularly on the right in the first half.

Their forwards were totally out enthused too and the ball security was pants. The quality just wasn't there. Seems like the best kiwi forwards play for other NRL teams.

I thought they'd be much better but they looked poor. Parra's forwards were much more impressive.

Hardly the sort of platform for any fullback to excel, particularly one on debut in a much tougher league.

Both teams looked average but Warriors especially so.

Decent in attack, suspect in defence. Which just about sums up every England performance against Australia!

In no paricular order: Inglis, Thurston, Smith, Cronk, Lyon, Tate, Morris, Hayne, Slater, SBW, Fifita, Gallen, Graham, Burgess, Thaiday, Barba, Mannering, Waerea-Hargreaves, Pritchard, Bird, Boyd, Watmough, Cherry-Evans, Carney, Lewis.

Whilst I agree with the sentiment (Tomkins is currently not in the top tier) no way can I agree with Boyd/Thaiday arguably some others being on that list, and Barba has a lot to do still to be considered a top player. Swap them out for Parker/B.Stewart/the other Morris (for his position, not all-round play) and I wouldn't argue.

Only 4 people on that list are as good or better than Tomkins. Possibly 5.

ST is in the top few as a broken field runner. I would argue he is relatively weak in other areas though. Too many British RL supporters equate flash play with greatness. Effectiveness is what counts.

Pet. Civo. for instance in many ways looked ordinary but he was a great player because he nearly always quitely got on top of his opponents over the course of a big match.

Great players also win big, close matches rather than just scoring a hatful against weaker opposition.

In those terms, I think ST has alot to prove. I think he has the potential to do so though.

Give over! Do you seriously believe that?

I agree 25 is a push, but he certainly wouldn't be Top10 players in their position for me.

He was excellent in the world cup and pre-season. One average game and people are writing him off. Pathetic. Worse English players than him have done very well over there.