Why do you say "in the NRL" as though this is something new? I've been pointing it out for years but typical of British RL fans they make excuses. I think Sam is a great talent. He needs to play in adifferent place to make best useof those and defend on the wing ot thereabouts.

Because Sam Tomkins was the best fullback in Super League by some distance and was therefore fit for the purpose, as opposed to appearing unfit for the purpose at fullback in the NRL thus far. Quite a significant distinction worth pointing out, hence why I said it.

Yes, particularly great under the high ball.

regards,
Kevin Sinfield

I'm sure he'll be fine. He's a talented boy and will come good in time.

When the Warriors find some form, I'm sure he'll be at the forefront of it.

He's always bn dodgy defensively; apparently he's 6 kgs lighter than Slater even. I would choose D Boyd ahead of Tomkins. I'm sure I read somewhere that someone had the Warriors dwn as their favourites for the Wooden Spoon. Storm, Panthers, Bulldogs, Eagles, Roosters, Raiders, Cowboys and Rabbitohs are better than the Warriors, so IMO they would be over-achieving by reaching the Finals Series. But they have made a late run before.

And that's more than enough to judge any player...

A Johns said on Triple M earlier that S Wane isn't the coach for the NZ Warriors. I bet you're gonna say that good coaches will adapt to the cattle they have, so who then should coach the Warriors, M Elliot said that the players don't want it enough; questioned their commitment. Johns said that they need a coach who will not stifle that ad-lib football that they want to play. Obviously that's a cliché, and something I don't agree with, personally I think they should have stuck with B McLennan. They usually get better as the season goes along.

Hahahahaahahaha! Indeed

S Tomkins wouldn't get into the England RU side IMO, and neither should C Ashton, as is the case.

I've seen Jamie Shaul's name mentioned a few times in this thread. He's a good player but he's not up to international standard at the present time. He's definitely got the potential to be up there but he's going to have to put in a lot of work to match it.

I think the 1/6/7 of Hardaker/Tomkins/Widdop could be very exciting to watch but, being realistic, I can't imagine Sinfield being dropped or moved from 6 anytime soon (plus, to be fair to Sinfield, he has played there quite well for England recently).

He can play either comfortably, he'll be a success in the NRL. He was dodgy under the high-ball for a while but in the World Cup was v good at FB and his handling, vision and speed's good enough for 1 or 6.

Must admit - even as a Wigan and Tomkins fan - I questioned whether he would be a success in the NRL. I've had the pleasure of seeing him do some astounding things in a Wigan shirt - stuff that NO other player I've ever seen has done, but he is indeed very lightweight for the NRL and the defensive side of his game has always been inconsistent. NRL defences are generally better drilled and quicker than some SL sides and he won't find as many gaps, or that he has the pace to pull away as often.

Truly hope he makes a success of it but it's going to be very tough and despite a few good moments he's not looked great so far. Been out of position several times when the opposition has scored, and a few high balls have got the better of him. And he needs to sort his boots out & stop slipping over. On the plus side, he's getting involved in attack and has been key to some of the Warriors' better attacking moments.

Yes, I am aware he's only played 2 games.

The light-weight thing's rubbish, people are just picking on the one thing about it him that may be a problem as he's having a slowish start.

Brett Hodgson excelled in the NRL with no muscle, all you need for defending at FB is speed and balls and he has that in spades.

Tomkins has dropped a couple of bombs. Then again nearly every single other f/b in the first two rounds of the NRL have dropped bombs, including Billy Slater. So I am not sure why we are holding Tomkins to this higher standard. He has also looked pretty good in attack. Big problems with the Warriors is that they have no idea when it comes to defending on their edges as they have been torn open between their second row and centre defence. Not sure how that is Tomkin's fault either.

In essence, people are only happy if someone else is failing.

to be fair he isn't even struggling 3 try assists and a try in 2 games, if thats called struggling what would you call shaun johnson and chad townsend?

difference with billy slater and tomkins is when slater drops a ball he has a team to help him recover from it the warrior players are stood 30 meters back and to lazy to chase back.

Three assists and a try and if he drops the ball he is on his own against the opposition; he is the proverbial one man band. How long before he will be on a one way ticket for pie and pea wet.