full agree mate regarding ainscough! he is one hell of a talent on the wing and we have a star, nobby has realised it, he has some work to do especially on the defensive aspect of his game but that will come with experience

poor are you having a laugh he stood up to every tackle last night every single 1 i cant remember him missing 1 an has for creating leeds were very fast like every 1 say s its a learning curve an as for the comments about wigan fans putting him under preasure no there not cause if we was we would be saying he had a shocker he did this wrong he did this but were not he is learning an learning well , same as ainscough . i dont think they ll get a much tougther match in the super league than that leeds match i thought they were good last night an ainscough showed how much strength he s got running down that wing like ppl are saying our pack did nt help thing last night but i still think we did some good things last night it takes it out of you doing treble more tackles in 1 st 20 mins , some dodgey tries an dis aloud too not taking anything away from leeds they was hot in 1 st half

Obviously you were watching a different game. He never got the ball in a decent position to show his talents. We were playing out of our own half the entire game. There is not alot a Half Back can do when your forwards are getting pounded like ours did last night. Everytime wigan did try and build some pressure there was a stupid knock on. So no. He wasn't poor last night. He just didn't get an oppurtunity to show his skills. He was good in defence though. Or does that not count toward having a good game? If he had played for Leeds last night i'm sure Eddie, Stevo & All Leeds fans would be bigging him up as the greatest young half back in the history of ever.

buy some forwards then cause he wont full fill his promise behind that pack

Well the point was 'efcrhino' said he was poor. I explained why and how he wasn't. As for our pack...It's a decent enough pack they just need to get some agression and cut out the stupid stupid stupid mistakes.

At the beginning of the second half Leeds gave us about 6 sets of six in or around their half and we knocked on 4 of those times. Got over the line twice - illegaly. Without the mistakes that spell could have brought us back in the game.

I thought he stood up really well in defence tonight. It was one area of his game that maybe some people could question but tonight he really stood up. Very impressed.

We rarely got the chance to attack Leeds (although when we did we scored which is encouraging) so it wasn't really the game for Sam Tomkins to shine. But the experience will have done him good.

My only criticism (which isn't just at Sam) is he doesn't seem to be taking any responsibility of the kicking duties. Pat Richards seems to do most of it and Thomas Leuluai will take the odd kick but I can't recall Sam ever making a kick - is this an area of his game that needs improvement? or was it simply the senior Wigan players taking some pressure off his shoulders?

He wasnt poor, just wasnt used as much as he or we would have wanted due to Leeds pack being on top for the majority of the game.

I still seen glimpses of talent from the lad, and again he looked 3x the player Tim Smith is in defence.

Hopefully he will be kept in the team for next Friday, as next Friday is defo the type of the game Sam needs to be involved in.

he wasnt allowed to function , if you had a dominant pack every week hed be fantastic, your forwards are too patchy and in and out of form too much

After watching him in the Reserves all last year I knew his defence would stand up. His technique is excellent and just what is needed for a player as slight as Sam is. Though I think him being last line of defence Vs. Kylie Leuluai is asking a bit much of him!

What i like about Tomkins is the little things for the team he does, last night we kicked into the corner and there was a pretty decent chase but when i think it was Smith ran it back in there was a pretty big gap inside, he read it and sprinted from his position next to his winger in the line behind 2 or 3 players and filled the gap and made the tackle. He doesnt read that Smiths flying down field, im sure it was Bailey Hansen and Locky he sprinted around. Doesnt sound alot but makes a massive difference.

Thanks for advice.

Are you judging/rating Sam Tomkins for his age or as a first team SL player?

Open question to all before I provide feedback.

He looks like he could do to put on a bit more bulk TBH

yes lets bulk him up, coach the flair out of him and make him a robot like the rest of this bloody league

Now thats being sarcastic

No that's being truthful.

Mopsey I believe is a quite well respected Wakefield fan.

He's spot on. Look at Scott Moore, Tommy Coyle and Tommy Lee.

All promising young half backs who "bulked up"

Indeed.

The kid did not look out of place last night against the best team in the league (another positive is that Ainscough shone!!). Two lads performing well at the top level without being your typical Noble man mountains. Both have the talent to become match winners.....the future's bright!!

We must strengthen our front row next season, say goodbye to Bailey and Phelps and Coley and bring in that sh*thouse prop from the NRL and a top class centre to partner Ainscough.

He certainly looked "well stacked" in that dvd movie a few years back.

he just needs to keep getting stronger, keeping his flair and his pace if he loses this by getting huge then its another talent wasted. hes an athlete leave him that way. all you need is some grunt up the middle for him to play behind, the only thing is there aint none about.

He Looked Average At Best Against Leeds To Be Honest, Not Saying It Was Just Down To Him Though...

To be fair though in some cases the lads have been pretty big to begin with. Its more a case of people being played at half back who were too big to be halves in the first place. Already big kids were being turned into monsters.

Scott Moore was a bit of a physical freak at 16 years old.

I remember even then saying i thought he would end up at hooker or Loose forward due to his size.

As its turned out he looks like having the makings of a top class hooker.

As for Coyle well he is a failure, and Hull havent given Lee a definitive position which has stifled his development. I actually thought the other year on seeing Lee that he was bulking up to become a ball playing prop, such was his size.

Sam Tomkins reminds me of a young Tommy Martyn, slight of build but with that natural RL flair that cant be taught.
I hope for his and Rl's sake that he develops as a player, because British RL is crying out for players of genuine ability.
His body should be allowed to grow naturally with age, rather than be prematurely bulked out.

Swap Tomkins with McGuire or Burrows last night and i doubt they would of looked much better. Wigans forwards didnt make a platform for a half of any quality to play.

See you soon in the Co-op Cahampionship Sam, when Noble loses interest cos you're not 6 foot 4 and 16 stone. Real Rugby League beckons...

LOL dream on nutter

Such an intelligent, articulate and well thought out post.