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| Quote Deano G="Deano G"That's why I said it was almost blasphemy. Hanley is a rugby god. I have no doubt that he would be as good as any player in the world if he were playing now.
But... Tomkins has been absolutely amazing in the last few months and he's still getting better. I'm not saying he's reached Hanley's level yet but he is on his way to greatness. He now has an aura about him that I haven't seen a player have for a very long time. Other than Hanley and Robinson the other comparator would be Gene Miles in the second half of the season he was with us, when he forged an unbelievable partnership with Offiah. Every time big Gene got the ball something special seemed to happen. That's what Hanley had in abundance and that's what Tomkins has now. (To a lesser extent Jonathan Davies had it too.)You can see the other team start to panic when he gets the ball. It's just innate talent, like these guys were born to play rugby. They can do things that other people can't. It is incredible to watch. It is pure rugby magic.
Like I said, Tomkins development is not complete. Whether he will go on to be talked of alongside Hanley, Murphy and Boston (many Wigan fans of mature years reckon Boston was as good as and some say better than Hanley, but who can compare the games across those eras?) as an all time great remains to be seen, but he's already a sensational player and I can wait to watch him over the next few years.'"
Fair points. I think (quite understandably) your Wigan glasses are on a bit. For example, while Miles was great player, Meninga had a bigger impact on the British game and made his winger (Sean Day?) look fantastic who wasn’t in the same league as Offiah
Fair comment on Hanley, I know you are not suggesting Tomkins is as good as the great man but using him to highlight Tomkins potential for greatness
Also, while Jonathan Davies wasn’t in our game for a long time, he was a very good player (interesting question would be if Davies and Tomkins were both available for GB now, who would you select at full back?) |
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| International Board Member | 3525 | No
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| Sep 2003 | 22 years | |
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| Quote Dunbar="Dunbar"Fair points. I think (quite understandably) your Wigan glasses are on a bit. For example, while Miles was great player, Meninga had a bigger impact on the British game and made his winger (Sean Day?) look fantastic who wasn’t in the same league as Offiah
Fair comment on Hanley, I know you are not suggesting Tomkins is as good as the great man but using him to highlight Tomkins potential for greatness
Also, while Jonathan Davies wasn’t in our game for a long time, he was a very good player (interesting question would be if Davies and Tomkins were both available for GB now, who would you select at full back?)'"
Tomkins, Davies at stand-off. None of us know yet how good Tomkins might get, but he is a great player already and it is going to be very exciting to watch him grow further over the next few years. Sooner or later someone is going to come along to rival Hanley just as he appeared on the scene after Murphy.
Meninga was an incredible player. I didn't see him play live as often as Hanley but from what I did see of him I don't think its blasphemy to say that Meninga was as good as Hanley. For those too young to have seen big Mal play, just imagine a bigger, better and more powerful version of Inglis and you'll have some idea of how good a player Meninga was. Huge, strong, deceptively quick for such a big man, great hands and a fantastic rugby brain. He always seemed to turn up at the wrong time for Great Britain...  |
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| Sep 2003 | 22 years | |
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| Quote craigizzard="craigizzard"Tomkins might someday be able to match Hanley in some elements of his play, but he will never do it while making 40 tackles a match, and, physically, he'll never be able to run or tackle with as much power as Ellery. In short, he might be outstanding, but he'll never be outstanding in so many aspects of the game.'"
By that reckoning Andrew Johns would be a much worse player than Hanley. That is a massive call and not one many Aussies would agree with.
I do agree though that there is something special about a complete player.
In fantasy rugby league terms it would be interesting to know whether 13 Hanleys would beat 13 Meningas....  |
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| Quote Deano G="Deano G"By that reckoning Andrew Johns would be a much worse player than Hanley. That is a massive call and not one many Aussies would agree with.
I do agree though that there is something special about a complete player.
In fantasy rugby league terms it would be interesting to know whether 13 Hanleys would beat 13 Meningas....
'"
Hanley was the all round RL player. |
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| Player Coach | 1824 | No
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| Jan 2010 | 15 years | |
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| Quote Saddened!="Saddened!"
When is it announced anyway?'"
The RFL Awards Dinner is usually in the week leading up to the Grand Final. It was last year anyway |
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| Quote Saddened!="Saddened!"Don't laugh it's true. As a kid Sam was one of those who cried for his Mum to buy him a computer game. He'd get it, costing half his Mum's benefits and he's look in the magazines for cheats about how to finish it. He's type the code in and be at the end of the game watching the cut scenes and credits. He'd sit back and smile to himself. He applied the same approach to his rugby too until recently. Why run down a field when you can take a tackle and trap a defenders arm and get Pat to kick it 50 metres down field?'"
 Saddened you do make me laugh at times with your anti Wigan head on. |
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| Quote Deano G="Deano G"By that reckoning Andrew Johns would be a much worse player than Hanley. That is a massive call and not one many Aussies would agree with.
I do agree though that there is something special about a complete player.
In fantasy rugby league terms it would be interesting to know whether 13 Hanleys would beat 13 Meningas....
'"
I will answer that for you quite easily the 13 Hanleys.
The finest player I have ever seen play the game and I have been watching RL since the late 70's.
I had an argument with my dad about Hanley and he says he wasn't fit to lace Alex Murphy's boots,now I never saw Murphy play but I couldn't imagine anyone better than Hanley.  |
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| Quote Deano G="Deano G"In fantasy rugby league terms it would be interesting to know whether 13 Hanleys would beat 13 Meningas....
'"
I don’t know who would win out of 13 Meninga’s or 13 Hanley’s (both very very good players) but I know if I saw either of those two teams get of the coach I would be pulling a hamstring in the warm up! |
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| Quote Deano G="Deano G"That's why I said it was almost blasphemy. Hanley is a rugby god. I have no doubt that he would be as good as any player in the world if he were playing now.
But... Tomkins has been absolutely amazing in the last few months and he's still getting better. I'm not saying he's reached Hanley's level yet but he is on his way to greatness. He now has an aura about him that I haven't seen a player have for a very long time. Other than Hanley and Robinson the other comparator would be Gene Miles in the second half of the season he was with us, when he forged an unbelievable partnership with Offiah. Every time big Gene got the ball something special seemed to happen. That's what Hanley had in abundance and that's what Tomkins has now. (To a lesser extent Jonathan Davies had it too.)You can see the other team start to panic when he gets the ball. It's just innate talent, like these guys were born to play rugby. They can do things that other people can't. It is incredible to watch. It is pure rugby magic.
Like I said, Tomkins development is not complete. Whether he will go on to be talked of alongside Hanley, Murphy and Boston (many Wigan fans of mature years reckon Boston was as good as and some say better than Hanley, but who can compare the games across those eras?) as an all time great remains to be seen, but he's already a sensational player and I can wait to watch him over the next few years.'"
Agreed with all of this, the potential of Tomkins is frightning really, he still has much to learn but is being compared favorably with the likes of Billy Slater in only his third full year of SL. (Matt Parish) |
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| International Chairman | 1458 | Wigan Warriors |
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| Apr 2002 | 23 years | |
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| Quote vikingsmurf="vikingsmurf"for me 'Man Of Steel' has always implied something beyond the normal skillfull, try scoring, flashy associations of player of the year. for me it should go to the one who literally has been Man Of Steel all season, the one who has played on when injured, worked his ass off in every regard, made the hard yards, made the tired yards, made the tackles week in week out. The one who has lead the charge without fail so to speak. in short the one who has shown 'Steel'. in that regard it has to Roby.'" I agree Roby is a great player but by implication you are saying Sam doesn't have steel???? Come off it. Brave as a lion and never will give up, that's why Wigan are going to win the cup (again). |
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| Club Coach | 29996 | Wigan Warriors |
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| Nov 2004 | 20 years | |
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It was close up until about a month ago between Tomkins and Roby but not now. I've said for a little while Sam wins us big games whereas Roby put in super human efforts that keep Saints in games.
A match winner over an effort player for me.
Tomkins.
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| Quote NickyKiss="NickyKiss"It was close up until about a month ago between Tomkins and Roby but not now. I've said for a little while Sam wins us big games whereas Roby put in super human efforts that keep Saints in games.
A match winner over an effort player for me.
Tomkins.'"
Which big games in SL has Tomkins won for Wigan over recent weeks? |
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