New Zealand Warriors full-back Sam Tomkins claims he is “pretty happy” with his first season in the NRL, despite failing to make the play-offs.
The 25-year-old joined the Warriors from Wigan at the end of last year and, by his own admission, struggled in the early stages of his debut season.
“Obviously the start was tough. As a team we weren’t playing well and I didn’t feel like I was playing great either,” he told Stuff.co.nz
“I set my own standards and I think I’ve improved through the year. I’ve been pretty happy with my form.
“It’s been a bit of an up and down year for us. The coach [Matt Elliott] going after five games… We made progress after that point but we’ve undersold ourselves by not making the finals.”
The Warriors needed to defeat fourth-place Penrith Panthers in the final game of the regular season to progress into the finals series but went down 22-6 to cap off an anti-climactic year.
“We got beat easy in the end. It’s tough to play our style when you’re up against a team that’s kicking really well in the wet.
“We’ve had too many of those games this year when we’ve probably given the ball away cheaply and not taken opportunities down at their end of the field. As a group we’ll stay tight and come back better next year.”
Finally, Tomkins did his best to compare his new home with Super League.
“In Super League you don’t have as many good teams. The difference is every week here you play against a tough side. We’ve had a couple of big wins but not many. That’s the beauty of the competition really, tenth can beat first.”
