Tomkins saga over as he signs for the NZW

[DaveO]

No. It is to win those things whilst still handling the threat from NRL and RU. I still maintain that we are in a good position to do that. Others obviously don't. Time will tell which of us are right!

You could ship every decent player out of SL tomorrow and replace Wigan with Wigan St. Pats, Saints with Thatto Heath and so on and we might still be well placed to win a trophy.

That wouldn't be good enough to be charging what is charged for league games and finals tickets.

There has to be some quality about a professional sport and there are few real quality players in our league as it is.

In that scenario, entrance would be free as the money would have come in by the shedload from overseas. And the GB side would be unbeatable as there would be no Oz/NZ players in the NRL!

You have completely lost me there.

I was making the point that no one is going to want to watch a low standard of play and player just because we win the CC and GF.

[markill]

Dave, I think what he is doing is countering your extreme example of Super League becoming a league full of the better amateur level players by pointing out that if this were the case it would mean all our good players were going to Australia, so our national team would have lots of NRL representatives to draw from, but again pushing that to the extreme. Maybe KW fears just aren't as great as yours are about what is going on.

[tajhay]

Hi guys, im from http://www.nzwarriors.com. Apparently the deal is pretty much done.

What are your guys thoughts on him? Lots of speculation that he is too skinny for NRL and quite a large risk.

Also since Wigan and NZ Warriors are forming a bond, why dont we form a bond with our two different forums. Im the administrator of the NZ site

Look forward to the replies on your guys thoughts on how well he would do.

[East Stand Faithful]

Hi guys, im from http://www.nzwarriors.com. Apparently the deal is pretty much done.

What are your guys thoughts on him? Lots of speculation that he is too skinny for NRL and quite a large risk.

Also since Wigan and NZ Warriors are forming a bond, why dont we form a bond with our two different forums. Im the administrator of the NZ site

Look forward to the replies on your guys thoughts on how well he would do.

Hello mate. Not sure what response you will get from our end as our fans are worried the relationship with NZW might be one way.

Anyway Sam T is a class act. Don't worry about his size he is a tough nut. I hope he is a success and comes back to us a better player. What is your view of this "partnership"?

[josie andrews]

Hi guys, im from http://www.nzwarriors.com. Apparently the deal is pretty much done.

What are your guys thoughts on him? Lots of speculation that he is too skinny for NRL and quite a large risk.

Also since Wigan and NZ Warriors are forming a bond, why dont we form a bond with our two different forums. Im the administrator of the NZ site

Look forward to the replies on your guys thoughts on how well he would do.

Replied to your PM with the info you want

[tajhay]

Hi guys, im from http://www.nzwarriors.com. Apparently the deal is pretty much done.

What are your guys thoughts on him? Lots of speculation that he is too skinny for NRL and quite a large risk.

Also since Wigan and NZ Warriors are forming a bond, why dont we form a bond with our two different forums. Im the administrator of the NZ site

Look forward to the replies on your guys thoughts on how well he would do.

Hello mate. Not sure what response you will get from our end as our fans are worried the relationship with NZW might be one way.

Anyway Sam T is a class act. Don't worry about his size he is a tough nut. I hope he is a success and comes back to us a better player. What is your view of this "partnership"?

Thanks for the welcome.

Well from my understanding I believe the partnership is great for both clubs. Yes we are taking Tomkins off you guys, but it is with the understanding that he would go back to Wigan after the 2 years and finish the final year of his contract there. We would also be compensating Wigan with a large transfer fee which should help. Additionally there is talk that we will also be sending our juniors over to Wigan to develop as I am sure wigan will send over there up and coming juniors for the same development.

Wigan has a strong and proud history which we all acknowledge. Our supporters have screamed for long for a marquee player and I believe Tomkins is one and will be a huge hit.

If rumours are to be believed Tomkins would have been lost to another NRL clubs or Rugby regardless after this year and through this partnership i believe both clubs will benefit in the years to come.

Whilst I personally do not follow the game in ESL, i am somewhat concerned at the number of high profile players from there moving over to the NRL. With larger salary caps enforced in NRL the carrot will be larger for more and more ESL players to move over. Are you guys concerned about this? Personally i want a strong NRL as well as ESL. And i long for a strong international game.

Hope to see a NZ Vrs England final in the world cup

Also if you want to hear what others in our forum are saying about the partnership you may be interested in this : http://www.nzwarriors.com/threads/nz-wa ... hip.14222/

[josie andrews]

NRL: Radlinski says Tomkins would shine here

As speculations swirls over the future of the Super League's top player, his boss is endorsing his potential to thrive in the NRL.

Wigan fullback Sam Tomkins has been heavily linked with a move to Auckland.

Wigan general manager Kris Radlinski says there is no doubt Tomkins would shine in the Australian competition.

"Behind the flashy sidesteps and the colourful boots and all the skills is an ultimate competitior.

"He's a born winner and he never misses training, and he's a tough kid, and he's mentally strong.

"So he's got all the attributes to survive in this competition."

Question marks remain, however, over whether he'll suit the Australian competition.

But Radlinski says Tomkins is extremely focused and if he does decide to move to Auckland, fans will be impressed with his skills.

"He's a smart kid and he'll weigh everything up and he'll do what's right for him and what's right for his family.

"He's very close to his family, and should anything ever come off he would've taken everything into consideration."

The Warriors are currently hosting Kris Radlinski in Auckland, as the clubs develop a formal partnership.

http://nz.sports.yahoo.com/league/news/ ... ine-here/?

[BriH]

Is NZ Warriors the right club for Sam to shine?

[Kittwazzer]

Hi guys, im from http://www.nzwarriors.com. Apparently the deal is pretty much done.

What are your guys thoughts on him? Lots of speculation that he is too skinny for NRL and quite a large risk.

Also since Wigan and NZ Warriors are forming a bond, why dont we form a bond with our two different forums. Im the administrator of the NZ site

Look forward to the replies on your guys thoughts on how well he would do.

Just registered, awaiting confirmation. For anyone interested, NZ Warriors forum is available via Tapatalk!

[DaveO]

Well from my understanding I believe the partnership is great for both clubs. Yes we are taking Tomkins off you guys, but it is with the understanding that he would go back to Wigan after the 2 years and finish the final year of his contract there.

We have had similar deals put in place for Hock and Mossop who are going to Paramatta but I am very sceptical any UK player who is a success in the NRL will want to come back after a couple of years for a much lower salary.

We would also be compensating Wigan with a large transfer fee which should help. Additionally there is talk that we will also be sending our juniors over to Wigan to develop as I am sure wigan will send over there up and coming juniors for the same development.

The money is not much use and with the stupid rules in our Under 19 competition any player older than that could only get a game in our 1st team and players younger than 19 won't figure that much anyway. It may be a good life experience for young players to spend some time in a different country but I don't see this as a big thing to shout about.

If rumours are to be believed Tomkins would have been lost to another NRL clubs or Rugby regardless after this year and through this partnership i believe both clubs will benefit in the years to come.

Depends if these contracts about coming back after two years have any substance to them.

Sam signed a deal to keep him here for three seasons and it seems he is off after two so it's things like that that make some of us sceptical about the idea he's contracted to come back in a couple of years.

If he can earn far more money and likes the lifestyle why would he want to give that up?

Whilst I personally do not follow the game in ESL, i am somewhat concerned at the number of high profile players from there moving over to the NRL. With larger salary caps enforced in NRL the carrot will be larger for more and more ESL players to move over. Are you guys concerned about this?

"Concerned" is putting it mildly.