He's going to be the new Tomkins. The talent is for all to see, sort out his positioning and he's a brilliant player.

joel maybe but nowhere near as good as sam

He will be good but not that good.

No criticism of the young man from me, he's just 18, he's on loan, and one of our senior players should have been telling to drop back on the fifth tackle after he let the first bomb bounce.

I'm probably in a better position to comment (although obviously not on todays game) on the Russell v Tomkins debate, having watched them both from their U18/U20 days.

Russell is ahead of Sam at their same age. However, will he develop further? I don't know, Sam actually grew a few inches (bollo to those centimetre thingys) and has become the world class player that he is today.

Will Russell follow suit or became a Shaun Ainscough? Let's wait and see.

Tomkins is pure quality, but I do believe Russell has the X Factor to be a top player too. He is so confident with his ability at such a young age, I can only see bright things for his future.

russel will be a fullback! I always laugh on here how everyone is a positioning expert! The 1st bomb was an awful one to take and could see his thinking it would bounce dead. 2nd was similar but a straight fumble could of cost a try and was damage limitation,cos was almost untakable due to the bodies around,both saints and hull! The fault lies purley with lack of kick pressure. Had the time to spiral end over end em put em were they want! It was bugging me long before them errors!

Wtf?

I'm afraid I've had to kidnap him. He's ensconced in my spare room with steak and salad. Sorry, Wigan.

I see his future in the number 6 shirt. Granted I've only seen him twice mind.

The kid tries hard but if we want to achieve success we need a proper first class established and experienced fullback.

Only part of his game he is failing at at the moment. 3 tes he let it bounce towards the end of the game when he should have taken them. Saints targeted him due to this, which is what cost us a point in the end.

SPot on, made a couple of errors in letting the ball bounce but 110% effort, all you can ask

second bomb he bottled. You cannot let the ball bounce. And FWIW I like Russel a lot and would sign him as our fullback instantly. But no defending errors like he made. He will learn though.

Regardless of execution one thing he is is professional. Together with Houghton and Whiting he was alert and ready every second of the game. Too many of our seasoned pros switch off for a couple of seconds every now and then or are talking/thinking about the next play before the current one is complete. A guy came with us today for his first live superleague game and he asked who Russell was and said he seemed to be sharper than all the rest of the FC players and looked like he really wanted to make something happen. He was the standout player to him.