Its almost unbelievable that he can still perform at the level he does... what a player. It's no wonder we gave him another 2 year contract.. his quality show no signs of tailing off... obviously he cant play every week. But in the current setup, he doesn't need to.

I didn't watch any NRL or State of Origin till about 3 years ago, but I've been watching the classic games they have on Fox and I gained so much more appreciation for the likes of Andrew Johns, Gordan Tallis and Brett Hodgson. I would easily consider Brett one of your finest super league signings.

Those are some excellent statistics, although I would like to point out a few you left out:

Sam Tomkins:
Tackles 111
Missed Tackles 22
Errors 28

Brett Hodgson:
Tackles 78
Missed Tackles 4
Errors 16

I imagine Brett has played fewer games this season which may account for some of the errors, and Tomkins has fewer penalties given away (5 compared to 9), but 1 missed tackle for every 5 tackles is poor for one of the most important defensive positions in the game.

EDIT: actually, having gone through the stats, that's still better than most full backs in SL - only Leeds, Saints and Hull (as well as us) have better than that, and none of them close to Brett's missing 1 for every 20 made. I also noticed Mathers made 68 tackles this season and missed 35, that's an awful ratio.

defensively sam would be torn to shreads in NRL so a good few years of him in SL

Those stats also show that Wigan are quite dependant on sam in attack.

Josh Hoffman is very high quality.

Even the bottom five teams have good FBs: Jaryd Hayne, Lachlan Coote, Kevin Locke, Anthony Minicello, Darius Boyde.

My personal list would look like this:
1. Greg Inglis (in my opinion the best player on the planet of either code)
2. Billy Slater
3. Ben Barber
4. Brett Stewart
5. Jaryd Hayne
6. Josh Dugan
7. Marty Bowen
8. Darius Boyde
9. Josh Hoffman
10. Sam Tomkins/Kevin Locke

(being on that list shows he's a good player, being that low down in my views of the world of FBs isn't knocking him)

I always say you know how good a player someone is when they don't play. It's when you realise how much you miss them and know all the things you are missing in the game. It makes me appreciate a player so much more.

When Brett doesn't play Wire are a different outfit.

Big feature on Sam on Transworld sport this week

Awwww, I felt for sure you were talking about Wellens and Hohaia!

I am sick and tired of seeing him to trying to referee the game and get opponents penalised. Tart.

Devastating with ball in hand, and a player that I'm sure just about every Rugby team in the world (either code) would love to sign, but not a full back for me. I suspect Wigan might have been better off spending their money on a fullback (or promoting from within if they have young player deemed good enough) and moving Tomkins to Stand Off as he is a far far better halfback than either of the two they signed.

To put it crudely but succintely, you need a good ----.