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By Chris Skoyles
After Wigan Warriors stormed to an
outstanding 106-8 win over Whitehaven in May, the one name on everyone’s
lips was Sam Tomkins.
The 19 year-old former St. Patrick’s player made an immediate impact on
his first team debut by racking up five tries as the cherry and whites
cruised to victory.
We recently caught up with Sam to talk about his rise through the
rugby ranks, that impressive debut and more, and here is the full
interview, featuring exclusive questions that you didn’t get to read in
the summer ’08 edition of The LINC magazine.
Let’s start at the beginning, how did you first get into Rugby League?
I was about seven when I first started. My Dad was a big rugby fan and
he encouraged me and my older brother Joel [who also plays for the
Warriors], who was nine at the time, to get involved. We were living in
Chorley at the time, so we joined Chorley Panthers and everything just
happened from there.
And from the Panthers you moved on to Wigan side, St. Patrick’s?
That’s right. We moved to Wigan when I was about ten years-old,
specifically for rugby. Me and Joel were playing rugby and travelling
from Chorley to Wigan all the time, so it made more sense to move here.
I had a brilliant time at St. Pats. We always had a good team and all my
close friends still play there. I was there until I was sixteen when I
signed with Wigan.
How did the move to Wigan come about?
I was on the scholarship scheme from the age of about twelve, so I was
with the club a long time.
The scholarship was basically training one night a week down at the
stadium. There was about thirteen kids from each age group at the
stadium, getting us all introduced to the club.
Then I signed a part time contract with the club when I was sixteen.
From there I played in the Academy for a few years before going full
time this year.
You’re also involved in the community coaching sessions that the club
run. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Yeah, for the last two years I’ve been involved in Tesco’s ‘Lessons for
Life’ scheme, going round to schools, teaching the basics of rugby
league to kids in years five and six.
It’s been brilliant, it’s something I really enjoy and it’s a bit
different from training. We train every day except Wednesdays so on my
day off I like to do something different.
You get a lot out of doing something like that. You know, when you see
kids improving and enjoying rugby and you’ve played a part in that.
You made your first team debut for Wigan in that 106-8 win over
Whitehaven in May. How did you feel when you were told you’d been called
up?
I remember getting told on the Wednesday with the game itself the
following Monday. When I got told I was going to play I was a bit
nervous, anxious, excited, everything you can think of. I struggled to
sleep for a couple of nights; the game was all I could think about.
But I thought I was ready for it and it was nothing I couldn’t handle.
The day of the game was like the longest day ever. We only kicked off at
half seven [in the evening] but I was up at like six in the morning, sat
around waiting. I took the dog for a walk for about two hours just
trying to find something to do.
As soon as I got down to the stadium though and started speaking to all
the lads, it all went away.
Before that game, did you have any idea that you would do as well as you
did?
Well, there wasn’t just me that did well. Everyone played really well,
you know. We knew that Whitehaven were a side we could beat as long as
we stuck to what we’d been doing in training. We stuck to the game plan
and all the lads, especially the forwards helped us out in getting into
Whitehaven’s end of the field.
Will we see much more of you in the first team after that performance?
Hopefully, yeah. Nobby [Brian Noble, Warriors head coach], just told me
that he doesn’t want to rush me, he doesn’t want to throw me in there
ever week. That’s not what he wants and it’s not what I want either.
Hopefully I’ll just keep training and it’ll all come good, there’s no
point in rushing it.
You’ve been dubbed a ‘Star of the Future’ by the media as of late. How
do you feel about having such accolades thrust upon you?
It’s good that people are commenting and things like that, but, you
know, it’s only the first step and I’ve still a long way to go. I’m only
just nineteen so there’s a lot of time to go before you can start
calling me a star or anything.
I’ve seen that in the press a few times, but if you play one good game
all the papers love you and big you up, but that’s just a small part of
it. There’s all the training you’ve got to do and all the work to get up
there.
You can’t take all that too seriously after one good game.
Your brother Joel is also in the first team. Does he offer much
brotherly advice?
He helps me out with a few things. We play different positions so it’s
hard for him to help with training or whatever, but he does tip me up
with things like the mindset and what to do, so he helps me out a lot in
that way.
And younger brother Logan is also in the team at a different level, will
you passing all that advice on to him at some point?
Yeah, hopefully when he gets up here full time, which might be a couple
of years yet, we can both help him out.
What’s the atmosphere at Warriors like at the minute?
The atmosphere’s brilliant right now. We’re starting to perform; we’ve
had a couple of good weeks picking up some good wins. The 106 points
against Whitehaven, that’s an achievement against any team. There’s a
really good vibe at the moment, everyone’s really relaxed but really
focussed too.
What are your long-term ambitions in rugby?
I just want to go as far as I can. I’ve just signed another two-year
contract with Wigan so that’s me here until the end of 2010, which I’m
happy with.
You know, I just want to keep doing what I’m doing, maybe the next few
years really establish myself as a good rugby league player.
And finally, what advice would you offer to young people in Wigan who
may be interested in following a career in rugby?
Just get involved with your amateur club. There’s so many amateur clubs
about, especially in Wigan. Just get down there, even if you just want
to train and not get involved in a game yet, that’s alright, just get
into it. It’s something fun, you don’t get pushed into anything.
That’s how all the lads up here started, playing with amateur clubs,
really enjoy it and that’s when teams like Wigan will be out looking and
might pick you up.
If you’re playing at amateur level and start getting noticed by scouts,
that’s where things can progress.
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Sam Tomkins
(Picture courtesy Paul Simpson) |
