Wigan Warriors’ decision to allow star player Sam Tomkins to play rugby union for the Barbarians against Australia at Twickenham has sparked an angry reaction within the rugby league fraternity.
Many high-profile figures within the game have blasted the Wigan club and feel Tomkins will be in the shop window.
Many are dismayed to see the game’s hottest property playing rugby union. Tomkins’ big day out at Twickenham comes just a week after he signed a new contract with Wigan preventing him from speaking to rugby union clubs for the next three years.
Sam’s brother Joel has already quit Wigan and joinedSaracens and he was one year into a five-year deal. Union clubs are desperate to sign Sam and see him fast-tracked into the England set-up.
It’s been claimed a taste of the action will force Sam to want more.
Wigan legend Andy Gregory said: “I really feel for the Wigan fans – they’ve lost Joel and they don’t want to see Sam go. He’ll be in the shop window at Twickenham.
“He should be on a beach in Barbados recovering from the league season.
“I find it strange when people say they’re playing too many games and he is a lad who has never played union now playing in a one-off game where he could be exceptional. Just imagine if Sam sets Twickenham alight – what will be the reaction then?”
Click below to see a video report on Tomkins
Former Wigan skipper Bill Ashurst said: “What’s happening doesn’t surprise me – I’ve been to the circus before – but why are we doing this?
“This game is only a friendly, a joke, a publicity stunt in fact. I doubt we’ll see rugby union players playing international rugby league.”
Former Great Britain star Kevin Ashcroft claims Wigan must need the cash by allowing Tomkins to guest.
He said: “The fans will be going spare and rightly so and Sam could get a first taste, enjoy it and want more.
“He’s the hottest property in world rugby league even if the Aussies wrapped him up like a kipper last week. Only last week there was a hands-off for rugby union with a new contract and now this happens. It begs the question, do Wigan need to sell him?
“This is a big gamble, I hope he’s well insured. Wigan should have blocked it and if anything happens to him the fans will never forgive those who allowed it to happen.”
Tomkins heads for Twickenham with his club’s blessing.
Coach Shaun Wane said: “This is something Sam was keen to do and it will be a great experience for him."
Tomkins, who will play on the wing on Saturday, said: “I’ve been given the opportunity to play and it’s something that I am interested in.”
What do you think? Have your say.
Sam Tomkins' Barbarians bow angers League faithful
November 25, 2011
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Lighten up boys, enjoy the game and hope he has a blinder. I just hope he's at half back.
Short career........make as much money as you can from your talents Sam, I would !
Leave the Kid alone , he could set Twickenham alight or it could blow up in his face, you can bet the Aussies will do their best to shut him down. Its a Short Career with very few opportunities to make a good start for the rest of your life so why should we condemn him if he wants to make the most out of his Talent, as a Wigan Fan all my life I think we should take it as a testament to the Academy at the Warriors that they can hone such natural talent, Good Luck to him , let him show those Idiots at RFU what they are missing.
It will be a farce. He won't get passed the ball and he will be peppered with Up n Unders. But I don't see any harm. I mean, Wigan won the Middlesex 7s all those years ago and it didnt lead to any of the players involved giving Yawnion a go - you know, Farrell, Edwards, Robinson, Connolly, Henry Paul... oh...
Will they ever learn?
This si the first sign of the agenda to merge both codes. Bit by bit it will happen.
Lots of moaning about this, particularly from players of past generations but the only downside to this really is the risk of injury, but there's a risk of injury if he was to be out playing 5 a side football during his time off, or if he went out jogging one morning.
Interesting that Kevin Ashcroft seems to be hinting that Wigan need the money; they don't. That doesn't mean the club don't want the money. There are lots of ambitious projects on the go at Wigan including the Central Park work academy and possibly two similar academies created in Wales. Some extra will probably help any club but especially one with so many projects in the pipeline.
It's not a question of Wigan needing to sell him, it's a question of Wigan using a bit of common sense. It seems likely that he will switch codes in 3 years time. There's nothing wrong with him doing that, there will undoubtedly be more money involved but some players want different experiences, want to play for different clubs or experience different environments just as ordinary people do. You can't criticise players for making carefully thought out career choices.
If Sam really is leaving in 3 years then the 5 year deal gives Wigan some security and ensures they will not lose their best talent for nothing. Now this game for the Barbarians may just help to push his value even higher and ensure Wigan get as much money as possible when he does leave.
Just because Wigan don't necessarily need the money doesn't mean they shouldn't try to get it. Common sense suggests they get as much as possible and this little 'teaser' should hopefully help with that.
There's plenty of bitterness from league fans about union but this anger whenever union clubs take an interest in league players is misguided. The RFU have a job to do, which is to make their sport as good as it possibly can be. If there is a talented player currently playing a similar game who could make the switch they'd be mad not to approach them.
If they were to say 'no, he's a league player, we'll stay away' they'd be crazy. If it was league fans pinching union players then those league fans would be chuffed to bits and would see no wrong.
When it comes to the threat posed by union, they may have done some damaging things in the past, but we need to look a little closer to home when it comes to blaming someone for the inability of the sport to keep hold of our best players. In the not so distant past the greatest game had so much promise and it's all been wasted.
"There's plenty of bitterness from league fans about union but this anger whenever union clubs take an interest in league players is misguided." and so it goes ..... If you say anything untoward about union you've lost the plot, misguided, deluded, living in the past etc etc and never once have I heard yawnionists described in this way! RL is under attack from a cynical competitor with a long term idea an awful lot of allies and toadies who will perpetrate its economies with the truth. The response by the RFL is amazingly stupid but not unsurprising. This is because RL has always fallen over itself in an attempt not to rock the boat or to be seen to rock it for fear of seeming to be uppity like the beggar at the gate that it has always been treated as ......... Sam Tomkins being picked is not an honour or long overdue recognition for RL but , as Sam full well knows part of their courtship and if Sam imagines that the RFU means no harm and will achieve no harm by signing him then I am very wrong about how astute he appears to be. As for "lighten up" from an aussie, easy to say if your a leaguie in Oz to say this or even if you're a union fan Joey?
"If you say anything untoward about union you've lost the plot, misguided, deluded, living in the past etc etc and never once have I heard yawnionists described in this way!" I find it fascinating that someone thinks this was an emotional post. Far from it, I just see the threat from a competitor backed up by a press that prefers reporting nonsense and using trite stereotypes to actually doing any research as a crucial issue which needs addressing. There are other problems some of which can't even be imagined by someone however well meaning from many light years away in exile and this can bring out the worst in simple and rather biased solutions. These run along the lines of kill those at the top it worked for the french! The point was that there was a clear and not so subtle attempt by kick and clap to seduce Sam and we're all supposed go happily along with it while we behead the RFL for something which has nothing to do with this topic,gasp!!!