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“They should be calling him the Australian Sam Tomkins.” Cheeky, confident and funny, that was Sam Tomkin’s response to a question I put to him a few months ago about being tagged as ‘the English Billy Slater’.
The comparison with Slater is valid – Tomkins is a fullback, like the Storm custodian, a prolific try-scorer and also hugely talented.
He’s also the number one star in England’s Super League, the marquee man in British rugby league.
Arguably a bigger name in Super League than Slater is in the NRL comparatively, which is saying something, Tomkins will get a chance to face the Australian and Queensland representative in the club arena next season after announcing his move to the New Zealand Warriors.
The worst-kept secret in rugby league, Tomkins has agreed to a three-year deal with the Kiwi side, who have paid a world-record fee for him.
It’s a blow to Super League, and Wigan especially, but it’s an exciting move from the NRL perspective.
It should boost the Warriors’ finals hopes and be a real test for Tomkins.
The question remains, just how good is the entertaining and elusive Englishman?
On paper he is a phenomenal player. He’s try-scoring rate is freakish – 144 tries in 150 games. The 2012 Man of Steel award winner (given to the best player in Super League) has already won two Challenge Cups and one grand final, and is England’s all-time scorer of tries in Test footy with 16 in 15 appearances.
And he’s just 24.
There’s nothing left for him to win in English rugby league, barring the World Cup at the end of the year. The NRL is the next logical step for him.
Already the way has been paved by Adrian Morley, Gareth Ellis, the Burgess brigade and James Graham.
With Pommy forwards having cracked the elite competition down under, now it is time for a top back to do the same.
And there is none better in the Old Dart than the Wigan flyer.
Considering by many to be the most talented Englishmen in either rugby league or union, where he managed a Barbarians appearance against the Wallabies at Twickenham in 2011, it is the right move for Tomkins.
With his speed, ball-playing ability and outrageous swerve of defenders, he will be a handful.
Tomkins won’t find NRL defences as open or as forgiving as those in Super League, but trust him to find a way over the line.
The game will be faster, the pace relentless and the hits painful.
But with his skills, which have seen him play at five-eighth and halfback in the past, and his dynamic support play, he will be an asset at the free-flowing Harlem Globetrotters-style of footy espoused at Mt Smart Stadium.
More like his Wigan replacement, Matty Bowen, than Slater, Tomkins is up to the challenge.
At 180cm and 79kg he is not the biggest number one out there, like Bowen or Slater (who is 178cm and 90kg), but he is tough enough and it his sleight of hand and footballing smarts that set him apart.
Considering the quality of NRL fullbacks these days – Greg Inglis, Brett Stewart, Ben Barba, Jarryd Hayne, Anthony Minichiello, Darius Boyd as well as Slater and Bowen – if he can equal these blokes then he will be one to watch.
And on that Billy Slater comparison, here is what the rest of Samuel Levi Tomkins had to say:
“Billy Slater’s been the best fullback in the world for a number of years. He’s probably got a bit of competition there with Greg Inglis, playing at Souths. But he’s a great player and has been for a long, long time,” he said.
“There’s certainly parts of his game that I’d like to be as good as him at, but I’m certainly not trying to emulate how he plays.
“I think he’s got his own style and I’d like to think I’ve got mine. It’s flattering to be mentioned with a player as good as him, but it’s not a tag I’d use myself.”
Sam Tomkins, come on down.
Follow John Davidson on Twitter at @johnnyddavidson
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