This is not a critizime of him as I think he is one of the best if not the best young English talent.my problem with him is his size which isn't a problem in SL were he is very good/talented player but on the international stage he is just a good average player because of his size. He just needs to add a small amount of muscle at a steady pace this I think will take him up to the next level.
P.S this is not a critizime more of an area of which I think he needs to improve.

He's playing behind a beaten pack, whether he's 11st or 16st it won't make a difference and besides if he put weight on then he would lose some of his guile and agility

He played behind a beaten back and recieved service from a make shift half-back pairing.

I am not on about today I am thinking of a couple of past international matches.

I thought he was poor today and made some poor decision such as when Thaiday tackled him for the drop out. The things he can get away with at SL level, when he can just ghost around poor players or use his side step, do not work at this level and he needs to expand his game more. Whether he can do this in Super League, where for the majority of time he doesnt need to, I dont know.

Sam is getting moved around the positions at international level because of the lack of quality we have and it's doing him no favours. He got no service today from the halfs like Leuluai and Deacon provide him with at Wigan and without quality ball he's not going to be in the game.

To be fair to the other players though when he did get the ball he slipped over most times. As ever Sam needs to have a think about his choice of boots before he takes to the field.

Lets all queue up and have a go shall we??

How on earth is Sam supposed to be effective when the forwards in front of him are being bullied, the halfbacks don't play there for their clubs and the structures in place to allow the fullback to be effective in this team aren't there?

Australia were better disciplined than we were with the ball and that is the main factor that caused the result.

Sam mainly got the ball with a full line of defence within a few metres of him and nobody to pass to. What's he meant to do, jump over the top of them?

Our pack wasn't bullied. Australia just did there homework on Sam and due to the dynamics of the game he wasn't as effective as normal.

It's never going to be easy playing in Australia against their National team, but young Tompkins, like many before him, has found out that Super League hype counts for nothing out here.

I don't know who supplies his boots, but someone needs to have a word. If a big part of your game consists of a left foot step, then you need a decent lenght of stud, or spend an embarrassing amount of time on your ass.

As for the England squad.... too many basics errors.... and I reckon this could be the worst tournament ever for us.

You clearly don't remember the 1999 Tri Nations when we were awful AND just beat the Burleigh Bears!!

Exactly I actually take a lot more from this tournament than the previous few, including the World Cup. We have done far worse with some of the players that people are crying out for such as Senior, Sinfield, Gleeson, Wellens etc.

What is Tomkins meant to do when he has a quick backrower like Thaiday bearing down on him, pretty much constantly? The only area he could have improved was to play a more natural fullback role attacking the ball in the air to give better field position. Seeing as he isn't a natural fullback, it would be grossly unfair to expect him to do so.

We've suffered from a lack of ball retention in the two games so far. When we've actually had the ball I think we've looked dangerous on occasions, especially when we suddenly decide to chance our arm a bit. I still think Gleeson would've significantly improved us but the coach made his decision and went with it. We are still weaker on defence than the Aussies, too many times we don't get in front of them. and tackle side on.

Spot on

I've been particularly impressed by the speed of our get-out sets, only to end up disappointed by a silly handling error or poor kick. Even the most basic plays seem beyond some of our players when they are up against a top defence.

He needs good service. at Wigan he makes a lot of meters and breaks from the run around move we used all year. Hes not going to run over anyone and just passing him the ball with a line of defenders set in front of him isnt the way to utilise him.

its hardly hype when you're the best player in the league

Size wise he doesn't look much different to Lockyer, who hasn't done too badly in the game. Probably safe to say it's not a limiting factor.

surely Pat Richards is better.

I don't think so. But apparently others do

The best British player in a decade....

He didn't get used right today and the time we tried to bring him into the game they shut him down mabye the best thing we could have done was use him more of a dummy runner but it's done with now

People on about his size if he was bigger his game wouldn't be the same he's so niggly and thats what hurts teams his speed off the mark is second to none he didn't get young player of the year twice and in the top 3 for m.o.s for nothing

Banana is a Banana, thank fook im slaughtered.

That explains it

Oh look, another thread full of comments bashing a very good Wigan player. What a surprise....

Tomkins had an outstanding SL season and based on last season is the best British player in the comp, with only Pat Richards ahead of him (and Pat for my money is the best winger in the world, certainly I have seen no one in the Four Nations tournament who I would pick ahead of him, the guy is just the complete modern winger).

But let the fans of lesser clubs have a pop at our players if it makes them feel better. Its no wonder they are feeling vulnerable and want to lash out at all things Wigan - they know that their teams face a massive task in overcoming what will be an even better Wigan side next season and they are clearly rattled.

Good grief.