Very unsure about this signing. Thought Tommy was a very average to poor 7 who lacked creativity, possesses one of the worst kicking games I've ever seen from a half. He's strong in defence, but I really wouldn't be signing a 7 for his defence alone.
At 9 he went well, was a great move by Wayne Bennett to play him there for NZ, and we slowly followed suit. But what does this mean? McM is our starting 9, Sam Powell is our interchange. In a salary capped sport do we really need to spend the money on another 9? I'm betting his new new at Wigan is bigger than what Powell is on, who is a much younger developing good player, who can also cover 7 and 9 for a fraction of the cost and will be around for a lot longer.
Playing him at 7? We have Williams, Smith, Powell, Shorrocks, Hampshire plus Tomkins who can play in the halves. Williams is very young and developing well, Smith is a better 7 than Tommy, and Shorrocks is looking to be a future star who needs game time, not have Tommy stand in his way. No doubt this signals the end for Hampshire.
If we signed at world beater, I could understand investing in this position, otherwise I'd sooner the cap be spent elsewhere.
