With a plethora of superstars at Wigan’s disposal, Sam Tomkins admits he is very lucky to be returning to a side sitting pretty near the top of Super League.
When he makes his Wigan return on Friday, Tomkins will get to reacquaint himself with a number of the world’s better players including Sean O’Loughlin and Josh Charnley, who he won several trophies with during his first stint at the Warriors.
However, when Tomkins was asked who he is most looking forward to playing with, it was neither of his former teammates, in fact, it wasn’t any of his old Wigan friends.
To the surprise of many, it is Wigan enforcer Tony Clubb that Tomkins wants to take the field with the most, and he explained his reason why.
“Tony Clubb is outstanding and I can’t wait to play with him,” he said.
“I’ve played with him for England but I just think he’s superb. I remember when Wigan said they were signing him from Harlequins and I thought he’d be a good player, but he’s getting better and better. The stuff he does off the ball and stuff that doesn’t get his name in the papers are incredible, and he’s a brilliant asset for us. There’s John Bateman and Taulima Tautau too, there are loads I can’t wait to play with.”
Tomkins’ second debut in cherry and white has taken a lot longer than expected. His return to the club was announced in April 2015, but a troublesome knee injury meant his return on the field was put on hold.
“I’ve never had a long injury before,” Tomkins said. “Most of the games I missed at Wigan were due to be being rested. You’ll inevitably get one at some point but hopefully this will be the first and the last. I left Wigan after the 2013 Grand Final and I’ve never really reflected on that time, but I have done recently. I’m lucky to be at a club like Wigan and I’m lucky a club like Wigan wanted me straight back.
“It’s easier coming back into a team that is near the top of the league. The boys have gone well but I don’t think we’ve played brilliantly either. We’ve won some games ugly and we don’t want to be doing that all year, but it’s great that we are where we are for me coming into the side.”
