Sam staying???????

[John Ferguson]

"How players get looked after in union off the field far outweighs league by 10 times.”

Josie,these are Sam's own words taken from an interview with him,so do you know the whole story?
By the way I'm not bitter and I certainly am not a little man !
The clue is in the name!

Firstly I don't hide behind a nom de plume & I have no idea what the clue is to your name.

Sam is correct in what he has said. Every other sport, including & mostly RU, looks after their players loads more than RL.

See http://www.wiganwarriorsfans.com/wigan ... c&o=869071

Also why is he ungrateful? He has given his all for this club, even as a kid, & for England/GB.

We the fans, Wigan & other teams, are ungrateful to even begrudge him wanting to test himself elsewhere. There isn't this furore about other players leaving for other codes or the NRL.

To be booed playing for your team is one thing, but to be booed & then cheered when you are tackled & hurt, in some circumstances, IMO is despicable. Joel could not come to terms with it when they played at Leeds v the Exiles & helped change his outlook on playing RL greatly.

He may not make it, but at least let him have the opportunity try & wish him luck, because I do.

I am grateful to have been able to see the talent, that is Sam Tomkins, play for Wigan from being a kid & growing into an excellent player & a very nice polite young man.

Well said.

[josie andrews]

And to add to the argument, has Sam been told not to say anything, until given permission to, from the owner of WRL & he has kept to that, while everywhere else the speculation is that he is wholly to blame for this sad state of affairs.

Sorry, but I will be very sad to see him leave this great club.

He is the perfect professional sportsman, he carries himself with dignity & politeness to everyone & British RL will be losing a great ambassador for the sport in this country when he does leave.

[thegimble]

And to add to the argument, has Sam been told not to say anything, until given permission to, from the owner of WRL & he has kept to that, while everywhere else the speculation is that he is wholly to blame for this sad state of affairs.

Sorry, but I will be very sad to see him leave this great club.

He is the perfect professional sportsman, he carries himself with dignity & politeness to everyone & British RL will be losing a great ambassador for the sport in this country when he does leave.

Most of us know where the problem lies Josie. Its known for a very long time he is going. I just hope that at the press conference that some journalists will bring IL to book for the 5 year deal with 3 year minimum. And question him on why our best players are released early when most top SL sides do not.

[Emraz]

Why would you want to keep a player if he wanted to leave?

[KaylaRobbo]

This thread makes me wonder who will we start on when Sam leaves? Will it be Josh next when they start chasing him as the next biggest thing and we don't know what is going on?
Nobody on here knows exactly what is going on with Sam so why presume? It's obviously a 'company code of silence' thing so why blame the lad?
Put yourself in his place. You can't answer people's questions, are a one-man target on the field, opposing fans cheer louder every time you are tackled than when they score and now a lot of your own fans are turning into a hate mob. Are you really going to be able to function at optimum? Ooh - and God forbid - you might really have an injury?!?! (Or can that not be possible as you have managed so long being thrown about like a rag doll for Wigan without getting any lasting injuries that it's impossible you could have picked one up now!)
I'm with Josie on this one - it has been a privilege to have Sam for as long as we have and I wish him all the luck for the future wherever that may be. I will be just as chuffed whether he stays with us and fulfills his contract or he makes it big over in Australia and everybody over there rates Wigan as a team that can produce the best! No player can stay forever unfortunately.....

[TrueBlueWarrior]

Why would you want to keep a player if he wanted to leave?

You wouldn't!

[stevo38]

if has rumoured he does go and comes back to wigan also rumoured I think we will then benefit from a much better player ,hes far from the finished article now and probably will never reach the best of his ability over here ,but to get maybe 3 yrs in the nrl under his belt I think could put sam up there with some of the best .

[cpwigan]

This thread makes me wonder who will we start on when Sam leaves? Will it be Josh next when they start chasing him as the next biggest thing and we don't know what is going on?
Nobody on here knows exactly what is going on with Sam so why presume? It's obviously a 'company code of silence' thing so why blame the lad?
Put yourself in his place. You can't answer people's questions, are a one-man target on the field, opposing fans cheer louder every time you are tackled than when they score and now a lot of your own fans are turning into a hate mob. Are you really going to be able to function at optimum? Ooh - and God forbid - you might really have an injury?!?! (Or can that not be possible as you have managed so long being thrown about like a rag doll for Wigan without getting any lasting injuries that it's impossible you could have picked one up now!)
I'm with Josie on this one - it has been a privilege to have Sam for as long as we have and I wish him all the luck for the future wherever that may be. I will be just as chuffed whether he stays with us and fulfills his contract or he makes it big over in Australia and everybody over there rates Wigan as a team that can produce the best! No player can stay forever unfortunately.....

Fans, well the ones I know do not like being misled even lied to by a player or by Wigan RLFC particularly when they player is an outstanding member of the team they support, second only to Lockers in importance. Fans can perhaps live with being misled / lied to if the particular player being lost was garbage but in this case this is a young man who Wigan fans 'adore' and have supported throughout his career at the club, even singing songs dedicated to him.

Some of the people whining about their own fans are deluded IMO and have turned on the wrong people. Far better they direct their anger at IL / Wane and to a much lesser extent Sam.

[Wandering Warrior]

I agree, been watching Wigan for a long time and can't remember such cloak and dagger antics as the past few months. As an aside what connections and why would IL want to own/be involved with Oxford United? Ego and kudos and that's the problem!

[Sutty]

Sam was in Total Fitness last week, showing someone pictures of the apartment that he's bought in Auckland. He was even saying how much deposit he'd put down and that there's an adjoining apartment that his mum will be staying in when she goes over to visit. If that's not proof that he's leaving, I don't know what is.

I think the blame lies with Lenegan, as I mentioned previously, he's almost certainly the one that's put a media blanket over this rumour. If he'd come out and said that we'd sold Sam and that he's leaving at the end of the season, the club and fans could have moved on, accepted it and got on with the season.