Quote: sgtwilko "There are kids and seasoned pro's doing what tomkin does every week in the NRL Dugan, Boyd, beal, loche, barba, Bowen, Hoffman. That's just fullbacks doing it in a tougher comp.'"
Sam can only beat what is in front of him. Put him in any NRL side, give him a few seasons to adapt and barring injury he'd be a match for any current Aussie player. No disrespect to the names mentioned, but he's the type of instinctive natural talent that only comes around every 10 -15 years - I think its legimate to compare him with Slater when both were at the same stage of their careers (rather than like for like at present), given the additional potential Tomkins has. I just don't buy into this "because they are Aussie and in the NRL they are automatically better", its the same old British inferiority complex that has hampered us for years. We have and have had World Class players over the last twenty years, just not enough to fill a competitive international team.