Tomkins Leaving - Official

[josie andrews]

http://www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2018- ... e-warriors

Just a mercenary IMO

Got too big for his boots, but he’s not as big as the Wigan Warriors!

After the club & the fans supported him for two years, the guy has no scruples!

[DaveO]

http://www.wiganwarriors.com/news/2018- ... e-warriors

Just a mercenary IMO

Got too big for his boots, but he’s not as big as the Wigan Warriors!

After the club & the fans supported him for two years, the guy has no scruples!

Give over Josie it's his job. The club told him they were not prepared to take up the extension to his contract because it cost too much so offered him a four year deal that still amounted to a pay cut in 2019. At that point he became a free agent for next season. The club opened that door and he chose to walk through it.

Players aren't going to take lesser deals or pass up opportunities such as moving to France or Oz/NZ if the club is daft enough to make this an option.

I blame Brexit! Probably wants to get over there and qualify for a French passport for his kids before the little Englanders pull up the drawbridge.

[josie andrews]

I still stand by what I said Dave, it’s my opinion. I’m very disappointed with him & the club.

[medlocke]

Whoever told you that doesn't know the truth!

Yes they do

Go on then, tell me where it happened?

Wigan

[Josie's friend]

Tbh if you had the chance to live in France with a couple of friends close at hand, you'd jump at the opportunity. Wigan have shown their hand and he isn't wanted so who can blame Sam.
Btw have people forgot about Morgan?

[DaveO]

I still stand by what I said Dave, it’s my opinion. I’m very disappointed with him & the club.

Why the club? I am also disappointed with it because in my view they welched on the deal they agreed with him previously.

The club offered him a deal when he returned from NZ that included a set wage in 2019 if the club took the option. As they were clearly prepared to give him a four year deal they could have taken the option for 2019 as agreed and offered him a three year deal from 2020 on less money after that. That would have been fair but instead wanted to welch on the deal and offer him less money next season.

I think any player would take that as an act of bad faith. They still wanted him but only if he would accept less than what was previously agreed for 2019.

Regardless of whether people think he was worth the obviously higher wage the club should never have offered it if was not prepared to pay it to him in 2019.

[Exiled Wiganer]

Everyone assumed that Catalans were offering a Marquee deal and Wigan weren't. It was also mentioned Catalans offered a 4 year deal and Wigan less.

Now it turn out Wigan have offered a 4 year Marquee deal, for more money than Sam was expecting, but still he choses Catalans because he wants to experience the culture.

So he turns his back on Wigan and any real chance of success in the future, just so his kids can learn a new language. He could have got that at Wigan Tech.

He really will be Rat Boy if his team are not winning every week and decisions going against them, but oh well at least he'll be able to go back to his chateau and a glass of wine after the game.[
And not forgetting going out on the town and hurting himself.
Very disappointed with his attitude given the last couple of seasons and rumoured circumstances. However we move on and the need for a couple of on field generals becomes a necessity.

Theres not a person on this board who woudnt take the opportunity to earn more money given the chance. Especially if your earning power stopped at say 35yrs old.
Good luck for the the future Sam and thanks for the memories.

1) I imagine many people on this board do things for which they could be paid or could be paid more, but choose not to because they value other things more highly. Here, we aren't talking about someone who is on the basic wage. He was paid a fortune by NZW and us for 4 years in which he did absolutely nothing of note. And now turns down a big money offer from us, simply for cash - he certainly won't ever win anything.

2) the memories are what he has been living off for pretty much a decade by the time he has finished counting his euros. The last time he was a great player was 2012. He will finish his contract in France in 2022 by my reckoning.

The club has done everything it could for him, with support, rehab, even last year giving him as long as it took for him to just right after his self inflicted injury pretty much wiped out the season. How the club can take the blame for his choice is quite beyond me. We offered him lots of money to continue to play for the club who had made him, with the prospect of winning trophies and he chose Super League's equivalent of the Warriors - life style and tons of cash without the hard work.

[Exiled Wiganer]

Family come first and if one of his reasons for leaving is that then it is good enough for me.Anyone that doesnt put family first is very selfish.Why should he stay at Wigan, all this crap about loyalty is exactly that.Does anyone think that Lockers stays at Wigan just to pacify club and fans?Of course not he does what suits him and his family.Good luck to the lad, he has won plenty awards, medals and trophys so he appears to want to enjoy a life in the sun.

Anyone can say that family comes first. But they're only words. They don't even make sense in this context - he always wanted his kids to be educated in France? Really? I have heard some rubbish in my time. And when they are done there in 4 years, back they come to England. Nothing kids more than moving countries over and over again.
What awards has he won in the last 5 years?
I do agree he wants to enjoy a life in the sun.
Moreover, I can see the attraction of making as much as you possibly can, ignoring both loyalty and ambition. I am not rushing to applaud it though. But I am sure Sam cares as much about any of our views as he does the club, at least as soon as they stop putting a fortune into his account every month.

[ian b]

think he's doing the right thing for himself and family and there's nothing wrong with that

[Exiled Wiganer]

I still stand by what I said Dave, it’s my opinion. I’m very disappointed with him & the club.

Why the club? I am also disappointed with it because in my view they welched on the deal they agreed with him previously.

The club offered him a deal when he returned from NZ that included a set wage in 2019 if the club took the option. As they were clearly prepared to give him a four year deal they could have taken the option for 2019 as agreed and offered him a three year deal from 2020 on less money after that. That would have been fair but instead wanted to welch on the deal and offer him less money next season.

I think any player would take that as an act of bad faith. They still wanted him but only if he would accept less than what was previously agreed for 2019.

Regardless of whether people think he was worth the obviously higher wage the club should never have offered it if was not prepared to pay it to him in 2019.

Would you care to take a look at what we got for our money over the 2 and a bit years he has been back? It'll only take a moment.
It was an option - if he wanted a 4 year contract he should have signed a 4 year contract. The entire point of options is and has always been that they are re-visited at the time. If he didn't know that he should sack his agent and give his head a wobble.
What minimum contributions could the club expect before exercising that option? Go back and look up what he has contributed again and see whether it makes any sense to write a blank cheque for more of the same.
Tbh, the club would be letting down every one of us had they agreed to pay Sam even more money over the next 4 years given that he has made nothing that resembles a superstar performance in a single game since 2013. If we are counting the odd drop goal then I am sure we could buy Matty Smith back.