Sam Tomkins

Wigan faced their worst start to a season since 1966 after losing their opening three matches.

Tomkins was brought into the squad and came off the bench against Harlequins for his league début during their fourth match of the season.

Tomkins made a break early in the second half which allowed George Carmont to claim the equalising try.

Tomkins took Tim Smith's starting place in the team for their next match against Bradford Bulls.

After scoring twice for a brace against Salford, he earned his first league tries.

He also scored in a fourth round cup match against Barrow.

For the round 10 fixture against Celtic Crusaders, Tomkins was relegated to the bench as Smith made his first start in eight games.

Sam Tomkins (born 23 March 1989) is a professional rugby league analyst for Sky Sports and former professional player.

He finished his career as captain of England national team before continuing for a final season with Catalans Dragons in the Super League.

Tomkins, a product of the Wigan Warriors academy, played as a and occasional, across two stints for the Warriors as well as his time at Catalans Dragons.

In addition, he also played two seasons in the NRL for New Zealand Warriors.

Tomkins was born on 23 March 1989 in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England.

Following the birth of Sam's older brother Joel in Warrington, the family had moved to Milton Keynes due to his father's work.

In the early 1990s, his family returned to the North West, to Chorley, where his younger brother Logan was born.

Tomkins' first experience of rugby league came when he was seven years old, after his father introduced both Sam and Joel to the Chorley Panthers ARLFC.

By the time Tomkins was nine, both he and his older brother had moved from the Chorley Panthers and were becoming more involved with the amateur Wigan St. Patrick's club, a feeder team for the professional Wigan club.

To aid their careers, the family decided to move the short distance from Chorley to Wigan, and Tomkins remained playing at the club until his mid-teens.

Reflecting on Tomkins' time at Wigan St. Patrick's, Bill Atherton, the club's chairman, remarked that "you could see there was something special when Sam came up through the club. There has always been something different about him."

When he was aged twelve, he obtained a place on the Wigan Warriors scholarship scheme, and when he turned sixteen, Tomkins was offered a part-time contract for Wigan Warriors Youth Development club's academy.

By 2007, Tomkins was featuring regularly for the Wigan academy sides.

That year, he featured in an under-18s win for the England Academy against France Cadets; his early try helped establish an early England lead before he completed his brace in the second half after a sin-binning for a high tackle.

At the end of the year, Wigan rewarded Tomkins with a full-time contract, giving him the opportunity to train alongside players in the club's first team.

When Wigan agreed to release Trent Barrett from his contract, the club looked to find a long-term replacement.

He played out the rest of the 2008 season in the reserves, some of his highlights including a hat-trick against Castleford, and another five-try performance against Harlequins RL.

The club played Warrington over the 2008 Christmas holidays, as a pre-season friendly to Wigan's 2009 season.

Tomkins claimed a hat-trick as the team swept aside a young and inexperienced Warrington side 44–4.

Tomkins also featured in the club's two other fixtures during the pre-season, firstly against Huddersfield, and then against Leigh.

After scoring four tries against Hull FC's reserves, Tomkins was tipped to make at least ten Super League appearances in 2009 season by Shaun Wane, Wigan's reserve coach.

He also received an endorsement from Ian Lenagan, the club's chairman, when he said, "I think Sam is going to be a world-class half-back and we want to give him his chance."

Tomkins was named Reserve Team Player of the Year at the Wigan inaugural awards evening.

In 2009 Tomkins was awarded the Albert Goldthorpe Rookie of the Year Medal.

For 2009, Tomkins was given the number 25 jersey.

He won three Super League Grand Finals with the Wigan Warriors in 2010, 2013, and 2018, as well as two Challenge Cup finals in 2011 and 2013.

Tomkins was offered a one-year extension to his own contract, which would keep him at the club until the end of the 2010 season with another year optional.

After signing the extension, Wigan head coach Brian Noble commented that Tomkins, along with Wigan teammate Mark Flanagan, "both have the ability to make an impact in Super League in years to come."

A pre-season unofficial friendly match provided Tomkins his first experience against top-flight opposition as he came off the bench during Lee Briers' testimonial match in a 22–30 defeat by the Warrington Wolves.

Noble followed this up by providing Tomkins, aged 19, with his first team début on 12 May against Whitehaven in a fifth round Challenge Cup match.

Tomkins became the first player in rugby league history to score five tries on his first-grade début, scoring his first three to complete a hat-trick within the first twelve minutes, as Wigan scored eighteen tries in total on the way to a 106–8 victory.

Despite this, Thomas Leuluai replaced Tomkins for the team's next match against Warrington, meaning Tomkins would have to wait for his Super League début.

He is the two time Man of Steel, earning the title in 2012 and 2021.