Sam Tomkins refutes suggestions of NRL failure

New Zealand Warriors full-back Sam Tomkins has spoken out against suggestions that he has somehow failed during his time in the NRL.

Tomkins is set to return to Wigan next season, a season earlier than the three he had originally signed for.

“Plenty of people have asked me if I feel like I’ve proved myself in the NRL, and my response is always the same: I’ve not played as well as I would have liked every single week but it certainly hasn’t been a failure,” Tomkins wrote, in his column for the New Zealand Herald.

“The good thing is I’ve got the rest of this year to make my mark and create some really good memories with the boys.

“Expectations are high for me to deliver throughout the second half of the season and, while I’ve been happy with my play since joining the Warriors, I know I haven’t maintained my best form week-to-week.”

Tomkins also feels that there is less difference between the NRL and Super League than many might think, though he has been used in s slightly different role from his time at Wigan.

“I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of playing in the NRL and my game has grown over the past 18 months,” he added.

“Plenty of people want to compare the standards of the Super League and the NRL but, really, there are only subtle differences to the way teams from both competitions play.

“At Wigan, I was mostly used out wide late in sets when we’d launch our big strike plays. I have that role here at the Warriors, too, but we also have a lot of big guys who can offload and I’ve had to get into the habit of trailing them around the middle of the park looking for opportunities.

“It’s been disappointing I haven’t been able to take the field more often alongside Thomas Leuluai, because we had a good combination going from our time together at Wigan.

“Last year he was injured for a long time and we got to play only 10 or 12 games together. He was going great in the No9 jersey this year before he hurt his knee in our last game against Parramatta, just as I was getting ready to make my return.”