That is a good statement. No excuses or mitigation, just a straight apology.

Well done to the Wigan club. Yet again we show that we are leaders in standards across the board.

Standards had slipped in many areas prior to IL taking over.

IL's leadership has turned the club around and got us back to where we should be, a club of the very highest standards. Being the very best in all areas is once again the goal of the Wigan club. That is why we are successful again, not because we have the best coach or the best players. Those things are the end result of setting the very highest standards. The Wigan ethos is back and it's great to see that even the best player in SL is being held to account for failing to behave properly.

Thank you, Mr Lenagan.

King did it the day after King knuckle shuffled, Sam took 2 days, is that Wire leading the way

I think it's something to do with that new bar they've put on it with shortcuts to the RSS feed and the Twitter and Facebook pages that's slowing it down. Never did it before that was there

Just messing mate about

So long as he gets the same punishment as Briers got for his 1 finger salute live on Sky Tv, then I'll be happy (i.e. the square root of bugger all).

Neutral viewers? Did the BBC ask them who they supported when they made the complaint just to make sure they were not the stay at home Rhinos fans? I am sure some of them were neutral but I think you are being very naive if you think at least some of them did not have an agenda.

That said Sam Tomkins should not have given them the ammunition.

The statement I have just read from Wigan on the BBC web site was inevitable given what he did and the way it was highlighted by the BBC. Equally it might be a good time now for Leeds to make a statement that excessive abuse of players is not part of the game. If Sam were black and he got that much abuse it would be called racists and Leeds would be in the dock over their fans behaviour. That is not an excise for ST but a bit of perspective.

Questions
How could booing a player possibly be seen as racism ? If , as DaveO suggested , 'he was black' , then surely any boos directed at him would have to be accompanied by something else to make the booing racist . ST has been booed by opposition fans simply because they don't like him as a player .

Was it only Leeds fans that did it at Headingley ? I am aware that the reports state that he was booed in 'the Exiles game by fans at Leeds' NOT 'by Leeds fans at the Exiles game' . Same seven words , just in a different order .
If he gets booed at Wembley in the international game I guess it must be by the Quins fans as they are the local SL team . What would the excuses be if he was booed in an international match held at Wigan ?
And finally .
Could somebody please explain what a flat track bully is ? Is there also an up-hill track bully , and a down-hill track bully ?

You know what I mean so stop being pedantic. The abuse ST has got is way beyond the norm and you know it.

I M O Sam should not of put 2 fingers up to the fans... He should of ran up to them with the Challenge Cup but he couldn't cos nearly 95% of their fans had gone before their team were presented with their losers medals.
Sorry couldn't resist that...but in all honest opinion Sam was wrong to do what he did but what everyone forgets is he is young and maybe he did let the occasion get to him and he has said sorry and been fined. That should be the end of the matter as in other cases discussed in previous posts. I attended the Leeds v Wigan play off game when Smith jumped on a speaker and abused Wigan fans swearing and 2 handedly doing what Sam did but I didn't hear you Leeds fans saying how bad he was and that he should be banned. Hypocrisy is the name of your game. I have spoken to Sam on many many occasions and he is not arrogant or cocky at all.. I think many are confused by his confidence and think it's arrogance. I've never heard him abuse the ref or other players. Sledging is and always has been part of the game.. As it is in all competitive sports
If the abuse and constant baiting continues we may lose one of the greatest Rugby League talents to enter our game for a long time to the dark side and who can blame him if he did.When he wears an England shirt we should support him...after all I do when Maguire plays for us and I'm not his fan at all.
On a different matter Bailey in my opinion should be arrested for what he did to that young lad

What utter tosh. James Graham gets worse. He not only gets booed but also gets the chant of 'fat ginger ' at most matches, including those against Wigan. He's never flicked the vs at any fans.

Are you for real?

The vitriol aimed at Sam Tomkins is unprecedented. That doesn't condone or excuse his behaviour.

But the morons trying to drive of our sport the most talented player in at least a decade out need to take a long, hard look at themselves. The routine and casual abuse of Sam - "runt", "ratboy" are just some of the things that make it through the swear filter - on rlfans.com is appalling.

Not that they will ever acknowledge that they've done anything wrong, though. Just like the lying, Wigan-hating fools that claimed to support the SC in its current form on this board for years and accused Wigan fans of only opposing it because we wanted to be back on top of the game at all costs. (Well, we are back on top, and guess what, we still think the SC needs changing, because it is not helping the game!)

There's a massive cross-over between the anti-Wigan nutters not wanting any change to the SC and the Wigan hating morons who have latched onto Sam as a symbol of everything they despise about Wigan and now want to drive him out of our game. Muppets!

It's no wonder RL has remained a small sport. A big part of its fanbase are small minded fools.

Iam a saints fan all this bitterness directed at Sam Tomkins is because he is a match winner all match winners are hated by opposition fans because you wish he was in your team , James Graham is given abuse players in the past got abuse like Edwards before that Murphy .Sam Tomkins will get this abuse for all his career ,Wigan have fined him he has apologised and that should be the end of the matter .

I fail to get too indignant over players giving a bit back to the fans myself. However, they need to learn better, for the simple reason that fans pay to be there and players are paid to be there. Like it or lump it, players need to be professional. The kid needs to learn from this, as more is expected.

Let's not make too big a fuss about it though. He'll grow up as time goes on, and I'm personally looking forward to his second Wembley appearance in November. Fine, smack wrists, go do some RL-based community work for a few hours more than usual. End.

Chrisirvine Chris Irvine
Sam Tomkins is not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy ... #rugbyleague
9 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply
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@Wiganchicky
Donna Alder
@Chrisirvine don't you jump on the bandwagon. This doesn't need refuelling. I thought you would have a longer memory than most!

Is Irvine really such a knob?