I am a Castleford Tigers fan and I think Sam Tomkins is a damn good full back.

I think most people who know me recognise that I am pretty objective. You're wrong about Sam. He's the most exciting player of his generation.

I'd be interested to know who you rate as a better full back by the way?

Rather than select someone from another club, which will just get us into a piissing contest, let's keep this to former Wigan players.

For me, Wigan have always had excellent players at the back. Steve Hampson, for example, was as tough as they come. I always admired Gary Connolly for his running skills and his ability to keep players out when close to the line, and then Kris Radlinksi was one of the most dynamic players of his generation. All had the necessary attributes to be a top quality full back.

1. They could catch a high ball, under pressure.
2. They were awesome tacklers.
3. They all had brilliant positional sense.
4. They were strong, fast open play runners.

I believe that Tomkins, - and believe me when I say I do admire him as a player - lacks the first 3.

Is he a great rugby league player? - yes.
Would I have him somewhere in my team? - yes.
Is he a great full back? - no.

It's nothing personal towards Tomkins, just my opinion after 30 years of watching the game.

Dugan, Morris, Moylan, RTS...the better NRL fullbacks aren't exactly Inglis but are 6ft+ and 14/15st.

Sandow played fullback once in recent weeks and it was a disaster. Smaller guys like Barba and Milford have been moved up to the halves, which is clearly where Tomkins should be too.

None of that matters when he scores and assists 4 times as many tries as he's at fault for. I'd have him above Radlinski, Connolly and Hampson for that reason.

I'm a ticketed member of the Warriors and every time the opposition put up a bomb, there's a group of us regulars at Mt Smart who collectively wince. He is a really exciting player, but last season he was not good enough at Full Back to cut it at an NRL club. Being "brave" in the tackle is nothing unless you make the tackle......

This year he's played too few times to make comment, but I think the NZ Warriors didn't take much persuading when he asked to go.
I suspect he'll be a super star in SL again next year.....highlighting the chasm between the 2 comps!

He is playing for another club though, you clearly have a sharp attention to detail.

"Poor fullback" LOL

Interesting debate about Tomkins on Aussie TV https://youtu.be/xWTwW4JQagA

Interesting debate about Tomkins on Aussie TV https://youtu.be/xWTwW4JQagA

Pretending to be living in New Zealand and a Warriors fan is really sad, when in reality you're probably sat in your mams council house in Thatto Heath.

Not good enough for an NRL fullback is he not? Hmmm ok let's look at some facts then...

• 13 tries in 2014 placing him joint 3rd out of all NRL fullbacks, level with the great Greg Inglis.

• 108 tackle breaks ranking him 4th.

• 13 try-assists ranking him 6th out of all fullbacks.

• 14 line breaks ranking him 6th again.

• 19 line break-assists ranking him 4th.

So, judging by those few stats, if Tomkins isn't an NRL standard fullback then there's only about 5 that are.

I think you will find Mr Pooley actually lives in New Zealand.
You may need more than 8 posts to your name before you make statements like you have.

The link I posted had the commentators say he pulled the pin one year into his deal, this year his final year at the NZ Warriors he has made two or three appearances.

He was not worth anywhere near what the NZ Warriors outlayed for him or a good return on investment.
He was supposed to be a game changing superstar on what his contract was worth.
Instead he was a pretty good attacking player that was weak in defense and under the high ball.

He leaked 36 missed tackles at a rate of 1.5 per game

Tomkins will have to be wary of his error rate too. His 31 errors last season saw him scrape in to the top 10 across the competition for all the wrong reasons.

Not read the rest of the thread, but had this debate before. Tomkins is a top tier cap earner. Some of the guys who are being compared to him are rookies or solid pro's but not top earners. With big bucks and big reputation comes great expectation.

Based on that Tomkins has fallen well short.

I live in korokoro, just north of wellington. If you think my opinion of him is wrong then fine, but not many if any warriors fans are sad he's leaving.....average at best and as u said earlier, ge couldn't handle not being the Sta in the team.....