I reckon he must have deserved Bailey's late dropped shoulder into his back after play had ended for half time as well. After all, Bailey wouldn't have done that if Sam didn't deserve it, and although I can't think of a justification right now, there must be one surely. I'll leave it to you lot to provide an appropriate excuse.

Hardly the crime of the century is it?
Well before the famous Eric Cantonna "one foot in the crowd" incident,
I remember 1968, Billy Boston jumped over the wall at Knotty Ash, Liverpool Citys ground and thumped a spectatator who was giving him racial abuse, he returned to the field and carried on playing, and no one said a thing.
Times are different now, spectators think they can say, and, do as they wish, with out any consequence to themselves, look at some of the comments on (all boards) here for evidence.
Rugby players are people with emotions, like all human being's they will react if pushed to far, remember John Prescott.
Personally, I think Sam does pretty well to control his reactions in dealing with the constant barrage of some pretty vile abuse from a minority of spectators at all clubs. I'll come to your place of work and call your mother a whore, etc, let's see how short your fuze is ?
As the best talent in SL at the moment, he's a target, that has been and always will be the case for all of the games great's, but, be honest, in the emotion and adrenallin fuelled atmosphere of a CC sticking two fingers up isn't that big a deal, is it ?
If the RL decide its worthy of action, then he will have to suffer the consequences, and rightly so, but until then, get of his back and have a good look at yourselves before verbally attacking someone (not just ST) that you don't know personally.

Who the hell is Tompkins?

Another quality post from Laurence.

Who?

I think we've done that one to death, along with Maguire/McGuire. Let's allow people some spelling, typo, and grammatical errors, to ensure the thread is not derailed, shall we?

Tomkins isn't some player that we just decided to boo. He's got hisself a reputation for cheating and pushing the bounds of gamesmanship to breaking point long before the exiles game. He also has a tendency to go missing in internationals.

He's also a pro sportsman, and gets paid to act in a certain way whether or not crowds like him.

All in all, he's a nasty little f****r, an arrogant chav who despite his talent brings the game into disrepute, and needs a good kick up the from someone at Wigan to get him acting his age.

Translation: "I can act like a yob but Tomkins has to be perfect, waah waah waah!"

Very reasoned post.

I'm not going to defend his antics yesterdy in flicking the v at the Leeds end, it was stupid and not needed. If the RFL ban him, within reason, I wouldn't object too much.

Someone at Wigan needs to talk to him though, I'm sick of talking about Sam about non-playing matters. If he's targeted by other teams/players then there are ways to deal with that frustration without acting so petulantly.

I think we basically agree on the same things, but are coming at it from different angles.

The thing that really wound me up yesterday wasn't the flicking of the Vs (I couldn't see them from where I was sat and only found out via text towards half time), but instead was his treatment of the touch judge.

The level of respect for match officials from the players, is what sets this sport apart from some of the slime out there.

What was done by Tompkins after the Ryan Hall try was nothing short of disgraceful and if the match officials at the time are not prepared to deal with the issue, then the RFL should be taking a long, hard look at how he acted. If his club can't / won't deal with him, then maybe the authorities should.

What he did far in excess of the usual level of backchat that is also creeping in to the game.

If Samuel wants to behave in that way again, then perhaps rugby league is not the sport of him and maybe he'd be better at home with the round ball game that seems to tolerate that sort of thing far more acceptably ?

Which try are you talking about as I'm trying to watch it back and can't see anything? (Though in doing so I did spot Ryan Bailey run straight into Charnley as Leeds were celebrating Hall's first try...)

Apart from the result we had a great day at Wembley with Leeds giving thier best. Also many super conversations and laughs with fans from all over. What a challenge cup final should be like. So how does one player manage to upset me so much?

I was in the southstand for the international when the booing came from fans wearing many assorted club colours - so I know it was not leeds based! Has this player upset fans and players throughout super league to the same level as we saw yesterday? Upsetting his peers with obvious cheating attempts and associated arrogance - it takes a lot to get Sir Kevin obviously having contempt for you! Upsetting fans with continuous antics such as yesterday.

And of course there was no question of anything kicking off after the match. Our family is bigger than that!

Previously I have posted against the boo boys and will retain my dignity by continuing to abstain in the hope that the RFL get this sorted prior to November 5th. Without action my support for the essence of family rugby league may be questioned. IT IS THIS SPIRIT that enables me as a Leeds fan to purchase tickets for internationals and finals regardless of Leeds participation. It is this spirit that was questioned yesterday by one player doing what he did. Look at the photo and look at both the fingers and his eyes. This is not the same Rugby League SPIRIT I support and significantly pay a lot of money for that priviledge.

Apart from this. Congratulations to Wigan and the players and supporters who contributed to such a good final. Thanks to the rugby league family who were out in force makiing the most of a traditional weekend. I even noticed the French being there in numbers. I wonder what the french is for Booooooooooooo.

Well can't be bothered reading the rest after this post from a person who is probably still sat in his jim-jams with a can of special brew in his hand.... And i can bet that if it had "kicked off", a keyboard warrior like yourself would have been the first to run away to hide....

Thanks to all the leeds fans that were there for a cracking day. Glad that your players put in a performance for once this season.... Good luck next year...

While you, on the other hand are a full on chunky monkey macho man who'll bop nasty people right on their jolly nose.

Grow up.

Where did i say i would.....? Your esteemed fellow fan refered to someone in a very ungracious tone... And it was he who suggested that something might "kick off".... From his sofa somewhere in the Leeds conurbation....

Incidently i was there, and the Leeds fans i met and talked with were all quite charming.... Unlike the aforementioned oik...

What a shame it came down to this.

hhmm

not read all the pages on this thread , just the first 2 and a few questions pop up for me .......

the common theme is that he is a horrible human being .. how do you all know ? do you know what he does outside of the game ?


anybody who has actually played any sport at a decent level will know just how some people change when they cross the white line . ive played various sports with some of the nicest people , off the feild , you could ever possibly meet , some wouldnt say boo to a goose , get them on the pitch and they think absolutley nothing of trying to decapitiate the opponent . does this make them horrible human beings ???


get a grip , most , if not all would have tomkins in there team given the chance

the attitude on the pitch is what makes some players stand out at the highest level


yes the 'bird' was a stupid thing to do , but lets remember the stick he gets , the lad is still a youngster , petulant is probably the word . i just see some people over reacting to this situation .

the 'bad example' he has so called set ? really ??
late tackles , speaking out of turn to the ref .......... i could go on

it was a highly charged atmosphere , lots of emotion flying about and nobody was hurt

just take a deep breath

As I pointed out, it isn't hypocrytical because the actions of each party do not have the same ramifications, you do understand that don't you? Oh, and, in any event, you weren't trying to highlight any hypocracy you were simply trying to justify the actions of the subject of your affection.

What your fans throw at McGuire and Bailey goes way beyond "dislike" and you know it. Now, your lack of an issue with that situation is hypocritical.

I'd love to know the basis of your assumption that the people booing Tomkins were Leeds fans. I was at the Exiles game and the only people I saw booing were Hull fans, although I don't doubt there were some Leeds fans behaving in that manner. The point is that fans can act irresponsibly to some extent and it does little or no damage to anyone.

Now jog on kn0b jockey (and yes I will admit to some immaturity over that phrase because, my ability to see faults is not one way).

Absolutely agree with you, right up to the point where you try to make excuses for him. He is a professional sports person and what he did is unacceptable, although you are right, it makes him an idiot, not the devil in carnate.

You're missing the point here - the last tackles, speaking out of turn to the ref etc. are part of the game and part of the game that we have all leant to accept. We may not like these things but we see them week in, week out and don't really show a blatant disrespect for the opposition support.

Rat Boy over-stepped the mark by some considerable distance by flicking the V's at the Leeds fans.

dont condone it , never tried to make excuses , unless you consider the bits about emotion etc excuses ??

not missing the point at all , im just saying there is a massive over reaction to a childish act

the things we see week in week out you talk off , are they acceptable ?

lets be honest , most leeds fans at the game wouldnt even have seen the 2 fingers would they ??

yes he overstepped the mark i agree , but talk of bans from club and internationals is just stupid

As I said on the other thread re this incident, it's the down side of a precocious young rugby league talent. What he does need is for his coach or an experienced head at Wigan to take him on one side, have a word, tell him to calm down and dont let the arrogant petulance overtake the obvious talent he has. What he did was stupid, but it was done in the emotion of the moment, but the fact that it was seen on national television apparently wont have done him any favours. Sam Tomkins is a talent but I hope the other side of his character is not going to spoil his bright future in the game.

You're comparing two things that shouldn't be compared - what happens in a game when players push the boundaries shouldn't be compared to a player blatantly disrespecting the opposition supporters.

The kind of behaviour that Rat Boy showed was not done in an attempt to sway the ref or get the upper hand during the game and therefore should be dealt with outside the normal disciplinary procedure.

it can only be dealt with by the DC if there are guidlines / rules / laws allready in place

as i said , it was a stupid and petulant thing to do , nothing any fan wants to see any player doing

but as i said , there is a MASSIVE over reaction