Hull KR have completed a deal for Joel Tomkins after he offered his resignation to Wigan following the video footage of him that appeared on social media.
Tomkins was stood down by the Warriors and fined £10,000 after footage showed him abusing staff in a pub.
The Warriors have confirmed they reached a mutual agreement that saw Tomkins depart, and he has now joined the Robins on a deal until the end of 2019.
In Tomkins, Rovers have signed a player with experience at the highest level of the game. With over 250 appearances for Wigan and representing England in both league and union, his arrival adds bonafide Super League experience to Tim Sheens’ squad.
Tomkins admitted that he offered to resign, and Wigan accepted his offer.
“I’m sure everybody is aware of what’s gone on at Wigan and I accepted the punishment from them,” Tomkins said.
“After sitting down with my family and thinking a bit harder about it, I decided that the best thing for all parties would be for me to leave the club and I offered my resignation to Kris Radlinski, which he accepted.
“I instructed my agent to look into a deal elsewhere and there were a few other Super League clubs that were interested as well as Rovers, but Tim called me personally and really sold the club to me, both for the back end of this year and next season. After a 10-minute conversation with him, my mind was made up.
“I’m really grateful to Tim and everybody else involved at Hull KR for giving me the opportunity to move on from this. It has been embarrassing for me, there’s no doubt about that, and it’s a sad situation for me to leave Wigan in this way, but it’s also an opportunity for me to move to a club that’s on the rise and that has some big plans moving forward. I’m genuinely excited to be a part of that.”
Talking about the situation, Radlinski added: “Everybody is aware of the incident that took place a few weeks ago. Since Joel’s suspension, conversations have taken place surrounding his long-term future at the Club. Joel made a very remorseful statement and the discussions that have taken place since echo that.
“The images on that video will haunt Joel for a long time but we can’t let that moment of madness detract from what a fantastic career he has had at the Club. I want people to remember his amazing Challenge Cup Final try in 2011 in the same way we still remember Martin Offiah’s 1994 try against Leeds.
“Everyone has commented on the video but the hardest thing for me is that the video is not a true reflection of the man I know. After the video had emerged, he sent me a message apologising for the position that he put me in and said that whatever I decided, our friendship would remain intact.”
