Re: The delusions never end ... : Wed Jul 31, 2013 9:33 am  

No1 Saint wrote:

Indeed the constraint here is British but some great names have been mentioned already

Farrell was outstanding for Wigan for many year, you could argue a complete player able to play in the forwards and backs as was Scully. Cunningham is another example , arguably at least as influential as Tomkins.

I think Tomkins sticks out at the moment because there is a dearth of top quality players in SL and he is surrounded with mediocrity at his own club.

Tomkins is a very good player but I'm not even sure he's world class yet. I guess we'll find out in the NRL when he has to perform every week against high quality opposition.

Why does Tomkins have to play in the NRL to prove he is world class, but Farrell/Scully/Cunningham/others named in this thread didn't?

Re: The delusions never end ... : Wed Jul 31, 2013 9:52 am  

Tomkins is a very classy player and can do things most others could only dream of, and he must definitely be up there with the best British players of SL era.

That said, the 2 that would stand out for me as better would be Scully and Farrell, both hard as nails as well as skillful and always fared up well against the Aussies. Tomkins is still only young however, and he has a lot of years to develop and get better so could end up being better than both of those by the time he finishes (although personally I hope he gets better in NRL away from where he can do any damage to us)

Re: The delusions never end ... : Wed Jul 31, 2013 12:01 pm  

FearTheVee wrote:

Why does Tomkins have to play in the NRL to prove he is world class, but Farrell/Scully/Cunningham/others named in this thread didn't?

Because the international game is pretty much dead and the standard of SL is getting worse. Ripping a dreadful London team to shreds is not that tough imo , but lets see how he gets on against the likes of Melbourne , Manly and Souths.

Re: The delusions never end ... : Wed Jul 31, 2013 12:56 pm  

No1 Saint wrote:

Because the international game is pretty much dead and the standard of SL is getting worse. Ripping a dreadful London team to shreds is not that tough imo , but lets see how he gets on against the likes of Melbourne , Manly and Souths.

But Farrell/Scully/Cunningham/others played against great sides week in/week out? If anything they played in stronger teams against just as weak sides.

Re: The delusions never end ... : Wed Jul 31, 2013 1:01 pm  

Offside Monkey wrote:

I will say that Tomkins is complimented by his current situation. In a salary capped game, he is playing in a more modest squad than some stars of the past. A squad that is very well coached (to the top of the league) who tailor and awful lot of their attacking play to give Sam space.
That's not to say Sam wouldn't be a star in the various great teams we've seen in SL era.

I'd argue the opposite, put him in a team with equally talented players and he'd be even more devastating. Imagine him at full back in the Saints team with Scully, Long, Martyn and Cunningham playing, whilst he wouldn't be the focus as much, he'd have acres more space than he does now.

Excellent player - he'll be remembered as one of the greats, but I do think the "The Greatest" is something he has yet to achieve.

I'd agree with this, especially if he does go to the NRL and Wigan don't win anything this year.

Re: The delusions never end ... : Wed Jul 31, 2013 1:29 pm  

Billinge_Lump wrote:

I'd argue the opposite, put him in a team with equally talented players and he'd be even more devastating. Imagine him at full back in the Saints team with Scully, Long, Martyn and Cunningham playing, whilst he wouldn't be the focus as much, he'd have acres more space than he does now.

You may be right, per carry he may be even more deadly, but there's only so many minutes in a rugby league game, put him in our 2000 team and the ball would be spending alot more time in the hands of Newlove and Iro than Goulding and Thornley, if you get my drift.

Re: The delusions never end ... : Wed Jul 31, 2013 2:28 pm  

He certainly has the potential to be one of the best ever however imo you have to do it over a sustained period to be considered for that title. We've had many great players, the likes of Faz, Radlinski for us Scully & KC for you not to mention the many other SL clubs.

I find it difficult to compare positions in RL. For example who's a better player, Sam Tomkins or Roby. 2 outstanding players who offer very different attributes playing very different positions. Possibly the best player to play SL is Peacock but props rarely get recognised in comparison to the 'flair' players.

Re: The delusions never end ... : Wed Jul 31, 2013 3:19 pm  

Is he the best British BACK ever to grace SL

Re: The delusions never end ... : Wed Jul 31, 2013 3:41 pm  

Ande wrote:

Is he the best British BACK ever to grace SL

Not for me, but we all have our favourites.

Re: The delusions never end ... : Wed Jul 31, 2013 4:10 pm  

The topic of that link is about O'Loughlin being the best #13 in Superleague at the moment and of that there is little cause for argument.

On the Tomkins, like Eastbourne Warrior says it's almost impossible to say who is better when they play in different positions. You could probably compare Scully and Farrell.

What I would say is that Sam is probably the best fullback I have seen in Superleague and probably the most exciting player (although Jason Robinson would run him close).

Sadly I don't think we'll see Sam in a Wigan shirt again after this season, but good luck to him, he's given me almost ten years of exciting rugby.