IT takes a special kind of player to adapt to not just one position, but two in a rugby league career.
The ability to do just that has been mastered by Catalans Dragons star Sam Tomkins, who began life as a halfback before making the move to fullback.
It was a transition that elevated Tomkins to become one of England’s greatest players and earn him a deal overseas with the New Zealand Warriors.
Of course, the Milton Keynes-born livewire returned to UK shores, but Tomkins will forever live on as one of the best number ones to play in the summer game.
And, ahead of Huddersfield’s fixture against Catalans on Saturday evening, Giants head coach Ian Watson has waxed lyrical about Tomkins and his career.
“I remember him coming through and scoring four or five tries in a Challenge Cup game and you can see from then he had real potential,” Watson said.
“He want to fullback and mastered that role. He has been the best fullback in the country for a long, long time. He has the ability to adapt his game, when you think maybe he has lost a bit of turn of pace from his younger days, his skill level and reading of the game has got better.
“He is one of those top athletes and you can see why he has been number one for a long period of time and why Shaun Wane included in him in the World Cup last year because his smarts are probably second to none in the game.”
It promises to be an interesting battle in Perpignan, with Jake Connor potentially going head-to-head with Tomkins.
