Much ado about the Tomkins boys as Sam stays at Wigan and Joel leaves for union, and England's prospects against the Kiwis
1 England's No1
The confirmation that Sam Tomkins will be staying in rugby league with Wigan for the foreseeable future could not have been better timed. It came on the back of his best international performance yet in Saturday's Four Nations defeat by Australia at Wembley, and provided a huge tonic to everyone involved in the British game ahead of this weekend's crunch clash with New Zealand in Hull.
So far, there has been a reassuringly small amount of small-minded chuntering from supporters of other clubs, and instead a recognition that in pushing the boat out to keep the 22-year-old full-back in the Super League, the Wigan chairman, Ian Lenagan, has pulled off a significant coup. Tomkins is the most exciting attacking talent the British game has produced for a decade or more, in my opinion, since Ellery Hanley. Losing him to Australia's National Rugby League would have been bad enough; to rugby union, disastrous.
With Tomkins at the back, and the other exciting young talent in the England squad and the academy ranks of Super League clubs, there is a reason for cautious optimism, both for the next couple of weeks, and more significantly the 2013 World Cup. After being booed by a minority of England supporters during the Exiles game at Headingley in June, he deserves to be saluted as a rugby league hero at the KC on Saturday night.
2 Centre of attention?
Sam's big brother Joel has gone south to Saracens, and that seems a shame, for him as well as for Wigan and England. Rather than teaming up with Sam and the youngest Tomkins brother, Logan, a promising hooker, and building on the promise he showed at centre last season, he'll have to go through the demeaning process of learning a new code from scratch ? as more established figures such as Andy Farrell have done in previous seasons, and Kyle Eastmond will also do in the shadows at Bath over the next few months.
Maybe it will prove worthwhile, and he'll be playing alongside his old school friend Chris Ashton in the England union team in their 2015 World Cup. But for every Ashton, there are a fair few Lee Smiths, Chev Walkers and Gareth Raynors, who come back from union slightly wealthier but not necessarily happier, having wasted important chunks of their careers playing at such glamorous venues as a two-thirds empty Vicarage Road.
From a league point of view, it's disappointing that there will be so many fewer chances to see Joel Tomkins galloping free, as he did so memorably in 2011 for England against the Exiles, and Wigan against Leeds in the Challenge Cup final. It's a lower-level example of the frustrating waste of the unique talents of Sonny Bill Williams, sitting on the bench for the All Blacks in the World Cup final when he could be linking with Benji Marshall for the Kiwis. Instead Joel will be starting his crash course in clearing out the ruck, and recycling possession.
It's only tangentially relevant, but I found myself thinking of the contrasting decisions made by the Tomkins boys this week when reading an obituary of Len Killeen, the South Africa wing who was ostracised by the rugby union establishment at home when he signed for St Helens way back when. He may have been forgotten at home, but people older than me insist he will always be remembered fondly in St Helens.
3 Time to doff the cap?
There seems to be a common misconception that Wigan have received support from the Rugby Football League, or at least a salary cap exemption, in making Sam Tomkins the highest-paid player in the game. Unless people are lying to me, that just isn't true. Wigan will operate under the same salary cap as all their Super League rivals next season, and the only "favour" they will receive is the ability to offset a fair chunk of Sean O'Loughlin's salary, because he has been with the club for a decade.
That is an example of some of the intelligent tinkering with the cap that has allowed the Super League clubs to retain a little more value in their squads without breaking the bank. But it would be good to think that at their autumn meeting this week, they discussed whether it might be time for a more radical change.
The game is on the front foot at the moment, on the back of the Tomkins deal, and Saturday's return to Wembley, which attracted the biggest crowd for an England or Great Britain international since the 1995 World Cup. Might this be the time to make a statement of intent by bumping the cap up to �2m, and allowing the wealthier Super League clubs such as Wigan, Warrington, Leeds and Hull to flex their financial muscles? Perhaps also to at least declare the intention to introduce a minimum spend of �1.5m by the end of the next three-year licensing period, so that the persistent makeweights are put on notice?
4 Don't underestimate Benji's boys
Four tackles in, and time to consider England's prospects against the Kiwis. You could argue that it's around this time in each set of six that they need to find the most improvement, as for all the courage and occasional brilliance shown at Wembley, a cooler analysis confirms that England were also error-prone and sometimes scatterbrained.
The bandwagon for making radical changes at half-back seems to be gathering momentum, with Gareth Widdop for Rangi Chase the most widespread suggestion, but I'm not so sure. Chase did some daft things last Saturday, but also rivalled Tomkins and James Roby as the players most likely to break Australia's defence. It would seem a shame to abandon the experiment now, although there must be questions over how he would handle the emotional test of facing up to the haka, and opposing his old school friend and room-mate Benji Marshall.
There have also been calls to drop Chris Heighington, another of England's recruits from overseas, but he still strikes me as a handy bloke to have around.
Kirk Yeaman is another to have come in for criticism despite avoiding any defensive errors at Wembley as glaring as the ones that had cost England tries in their previous fixtures against France and Wales. It was down the right flank where England were exposed, usually by Johnathan Thurston. But there's no need to panic about that ? Jack Reed remains inexperienced, but seems bright enough to learn quickly on the job.
There may well be a couple of enforced changes, as we won't know until Steve McNamara confirms his team on Saturday the true extent of the injuries sustained by Jamie Peacock, James Graham and Gareth Ellis at Wembley. But at least in Garreth Carvell and Ryan Bailey, England have a couple of capable replacements. However, the Kiwis represent a formidable challenge, even if they have failed to click consistently so far in the Four Nations. It is not only Marshall, but reliable lieutenants such as Jeremy Smith, Simon Mannering and Jason Nightingale, all veterans of the victories over Australia in last year's Four Nations and the 2008 World Cup. Then there is the x-factor of Issac Luke, who caused England such trouble around the rucks in that 2008 World Cup, assuming he is recalled. It promises to be another fascinating, emotionally draining match.
5 Thurston the Boot?
Australia's game against Wales in Wrexham on Sunday evening should be more straightforward, but that doesn't mean it is without interest. Can Wales back up for a third intense physical challenge in as many weeks? If so, it would bode well for their prospects in the 2013 World Cup.
It's also a platform for the relaunch of the North Wales Crusaders, who will compete with the South Wales Scorpions in the second tier of the Championship next season, following the sad demise of the Super League club.
Finally, there will be the chance to ponder who might win the Golden Boot award that remains the international game's most coveted prize. That might sound confusing after Billy Slater was presented with the official International Federation's player of the year award at the Tower of London last Wednesday night. But Slater is now unlikely to win the Boot, an award that has been established for well over three decades and is in the gift of Rugby League World magazine, after his Four Nations came to a premature end in a typically brave attempt to deny Ryan Hall the first of his two excellent tries at Wembley.
Instead, Thurston has emerged as the most likely rival to the understated excellence of Cameron Smith ? unless an emotional last gong awaits Darren Lockyer on his retirement on Saturday week.
6 Wide to West
Another week, another book to recommend, and especially relevant ahead of England's game against the Kiwis. Graeme West, the former Wigan captain and coach, really should be a guest of honour at the KC Stadium on Saturday, as a hugely respected figure in the north of England as well as his native New Zealand.
He has worked with Andrew Quirke, a prolific ghost writer, to detail his unusual route from Hawera in rural New Zealand to driving taxis in Wigan, with famous victories at Wembley and the unforgettable 1994 World Club Challenge in Brisbane along the way.
Finally, a couple of worthy causes, although apologies if you hadn't noticed there are only six shopping weeks until Christmas. Salford are offering the opportunity to walk off your turkey on 27 December, with a stroll from their old home at the Willows to the first trial game at their spanking new stadium in Barton ? with the added benefit of raising money for the Reds' Foundation which supports community projects in the city.
But before then, if you haven't got your Christmas cards yet, the former London Broncos academy player Matt King has painted another one ? with his teeth. Matt, who has achieved so much since suffering serious neck injuries in his Broncos debut, presented the England team with their shirts before Wembley. All proceeds from the card will again go to the Rugby Football League's Benevolent Fund.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/nov/09/sam-joel-tomkins-england-new-zealand
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