Full back?

But would he be encouraged to just kick it back, or to use his skills?

He'd have to catch it first.

Can someone tell me how Wigan benefit from this?

I'll just put on record that 48 hours ago I had totally done a u-turn on Tomkins. He seemed like a genuine guy, had played some good stuff at Wembley and the KC, and I was excited about his future in England RL.

I was very disappointed by an awful performance against Australia, but still, he's one of us.

Not any more. Completely taking the p*** out of rugby league.

They've been given exclusive rights to play a lucrative friendly against Esher RFC in 2014.

This is a win win situation for Wigan, if things go to plan then I'm sure they'll be getting something out of this I have no doubts, Sam obviously will be getting a nice little decanter set out of it only of course


I reckon Wigan would want some insurance from the RFU to cover Sam should he get injured so that would pay for his 'salary' if he couldn't play all season.
The whole thing makes a mockery of the extended salary cap allowance if the very thing the RFL were trying to avoid should happen through pure greed by one club. Could/should Sam be allowed to play 'some' union games under dual code contract could the RFL stop it, would Wigan want to stop it if they were allowing their best player to be groomed? Sharing of players & facilities is not a new thing but I can see Sam/Wigan being lured by the big clubs for a whacking great big fee.

Personally I think Joel has a far better chance of making it in onion than Sam does. I'm not so sure that onion will suit Sams abilities/individual brilliance, he's not a fullback in a million years in league, even less so in union. So that leaves him at 9 or 10 if he wants to be in the centre of things or at a push outside centre where he'll be bored to tears with the lack of ball?

I don't know what plans they have for Joel but I'd say he should be at inside centre, or blindside flanker if he wants to get really involved and make his mark on the game.

Ickle Sam is happy for another week and IL gets his quotes in the big papers.

No good will come of Wigan's tie up with Saracens or allowing their best player to go and play at Twickenham to be tapped up by the entire RFU.

Perhaps Sam will be able to pass on some info to the RFU about up and coming young league players, that would be marvellous. I'm particularly looking forward to him being interviewed and towing the RU party line about big crowds and international competition, whilst being incredibly well paid through a recent salary cap exemption to keep him in RL.

Farcical.

If Saints ever pulled a stunt like that I'd be livid. There are some very suspect undertones to Leneghan's statement, it's as if he sees Wigan's future as a feeder club for Rugby Union, or perhaps in Rugby Union itself.

WIGAN MUST BE MAD WHAT IF HE BREAKS HIS LEG / ARM www1.skysports.com/rugby-union/n ... mkins-deal

WIGAN MUST BE MAD WHAT IF HE BREAKS HIS LEG / ARM www1.skysports.com/rugby-union/n ... mkins-deal

Not half



. . .where a previous regime tried to get one over on RU



. . . where a previous regime tried to get one over on RU



. . .where the current regime decided to bend over and not only lost a current RL international, but partner them so they can have a direct line into Wigan's best young RL players.

Surely you can see the differences between your decisions and those that went before Ian?

It's times like this when I am dismayed by my unfair banning from the Wigan forum.

What do the Wigan fans think about this? Do you like where Leneghan is taking Wigan? Do you want to be a feeder club for Rugby Union? Would you like to see Wigan RL become Wigan RU?

Three things could happen:

Tomkins could play well, and think "hang on, I'm pretty good at this game. And these Australians are *rubbish*. Not like our Australians", and increase the demand for him to go to RU immediately.

Or he could play poorly, and have @rsehole Rugby Club types laughing at League being second-rate (while still encouraging him to "learn the skills" for his crossover in three years time).

Or he could get injured.

None are good results for our game.

He has not been picked for an international team, Barbarians is purely an invitational team with no ground, base or permanent coaching staff.

Despite what has been claimed by Tomkins/Lenegan seems like this was already being discussed and possibly part of the deal before ST signed his new contract. As for coverage the only former/current RL player to get any real coverage for being picked for the Barbarians was SBW in Australia mainly because he was already a very big sporting star and all the talk was about SBW and his talents rather than RL. Willie Mason got picked, and received less coverage than his move to SuperLeague. I suspect ST will be discussed similarly to SBW namely about his skills because like SBW he is a stand-out talent.

No, he'll be spoken of as the rugby league star having a trial with Union.

I hope he plays better than he did on Saturday

union-bound obviously

This is the ifrst time I've ever completely disagreed with Lenagan on a decision he's made.

I simply can't see how it benefits Wigan in the slightest. What good can come of it?

How do you feel in general about the direction Leneghan is taking with the club? His sugar sweetness with Union seems a tad off to me. He seems to be firmly positioning Wigan as a feeder system to Rugby Union in this country.

Will his argument be that it can work both ways? Because that just will not happen.

SO who will be watching this game on Saturday now then? I didn't even know it was on and now I am curiously interested.

Allow me to enlighten you.

Clearly Sam wants to go to Union. Like it or not thats where the money and the glory is. You can't blame him for that.

So Lenaghan decides to let him play for the Barbarians against the side that finished third in the RUWC and one of the best RU sides in the world. He will get destroyed. Well he will if they give him more than 5 minutes off the bench towards the end of the game. He will slink back to league with his tail firmly between his legs. That is if the Wallabies havent broken both of them for him and the tail wont fit between the plaster.

Wigan and RL retain Sam Tomkins.

Win. And Win.

I say let the Rat go, he may be one of the better players we have, but he does not want to stay and some of his actions this season makes me not want him to be associated with League, Onion can have him, but I only think they will take him when he learns to catch!

First and foremost, Lenagan's a Wigan fan. I may not fully understand his decision regarding Saracens, but I 100% believe he's made the call he thinks best benefits Wigan given Joel's clear desire to defect to the kick and clap.

Despite the wailing and gnashing on here I can't say I'm too fussed. No-one would give a toss if it was a golf tournament or football, and yes I fully understand the historical aspects of RL vs RU. It's one game and as far as I'm concerned the only risk is injury. It's also a gamble - if he plays well he increases his value, if he's not great they'll pour scorn.

But perhaps we need to face facts. RU is a far, far stronger game, and it's nationwide. Even in the RL heartlands it's strong - probably because it's an easier game to play and gets the national exposure. I can't imagine IL has been walked over in his RU dealings - they came wanting Sam and Joel, they've got Joel (and good luck to him), we've got a 'partnership', a cross-code game and Sam will play a bit on Saturday.

Personally, I think the time for cross-code games at the top level has passed, expect perhaps for charity, but I'll still watch. The partnership is a strange one and it'll be interesting to see how it develops but again, there's no chance IL has left Wigan open to Saracens snatching our players at will. The fact is if a player doesn't make it in SL he has few options for a career with the oval ball and perhaps RU can see him right, offer him some prospects and a good wage - the same applies to RU lads who don't make it - their skills might be more suited to RL. They are entirely different games after all.

I think it's obvious Sam will go to RU eventually. Fine, good luck to him - it's a short career and why shouldn't he earn as much as possible. I do think he's torn - he's a RL lad but can also see the advantages and challenges of a change and I think we'll see his best years before he switches. Either way, his latest contract ensures any RU will have to front millions if they want him now.