To be fair, I think we'd be waiting quite a while for any Saints troll to have a say on this matter.

Best Thread EVER!!!!!

At the beginning of last year, Eastmond was the more impressive player IMO and had the edge on Sam form wise. No point even comparing the current shadow to Tomkins (or indeed himself of 12 months ago) as he's just waiting for a pay cheque at Bath.

Both cracking RL players, just a shame one is distracted and buggering off. Tomkins has been sensational in recent weeks, great to watch, and he's a tough little so and so which couldn't really be credited to Kyle.

Anyone who genuinely thinks Tomkins is anything other than a wonderful talent is just a jealous buffoon.

Absolute classic

Two points:

1). Not alot wrong with my so called 'classic comment'. Eastmond is lightning quick off the mark whilst Tomkins is maybe quicker over the distance.
2). You need to get a life Brian.

The only thing quick about Eastmond is his lightning quick ability to chase after the rah rah dollar.

And to run to the sidelines when he's hurt.

That said, I do admire the courage of the two Saints fans who've come on here.

Well done on that.

To be fair, in 2009 I said Tomkins was a poor man's Eastmond. Don't get me wong, I was grateful to have Tomkins, but to me Eastmond looked the better player then. In fact, I'd have to admit to really enjoying watching Eastmond play (that takes a lot to say about a Stain). Things have changed a lot since then, and oh how glad I am, but I wouldn't blame opposition fans for being less than enthusiastic about Sam back then and raving about Kyle, because I was the same. I'll even admit to being a little disappointed Eastmond didn't come to fruition in the way I'd envisaged, from an RL perspective.

ECG come on dont spoil the fun, we've had some good chomps so far.

Seriously though, when did anyone really think Eastmond was likely to turn out to be a better player than Tomkins? Don't get me wrong, Eastmond had a lot of potential and IMO is a big loss to RL but realistically he never looked as sure a bet for the big time as Sam. Tomkins has an Edwards-esque will to win that was always going to carry him to the very top of RL. Only an absolutely sensational season from Paaat put him ahead of Tomkins last season. This season Sam is easily the best player in SL and would have been even if Eastmond had not decided to leave for RU. You know it, other Saints fans know it, even Wire fans know it - Tomkins is the best player in the comp.

Is it not spelt Tompkins?

Can anyone be bothered to dig up those Dire fans saying Myler was better than Sam?

I don't think there's any doubt that Eastmond had bags of potential, and I put it on record that I was disappointed when he opted to defect. But any player who tails off the way he has this year has surely got very little heart, and it seems likely that this would have manifested itself in some form even if he hadn't gone to Union.

For one thing, his injury record has been extraordinarily poor for so young a player. Either his body's not up to the rigors of the game, or his mind isn't. Either way it's not want you want in your star halfback.

It's possible the constant Union chat that seems to have surrounded Eastmond for so long proved a distraction to him, but there have been numerous Union approaches for Tomkins which Wigan have managed to both keep quiet and fight off. There are many ways now in which Sam could show Kyle what it means to be a professional rugby player.

My sig is another good one about Tomkins :p

In all fairness, it would have been nice to have the opportunity to have Tomkins and Eastmond and Englands 6 and 7 for many years to come.