Board index ‹ RLFANS MAIN ‹ The Virtual Terrace ‹ tomkins or slater

Slater has the runs on the board over many years at top level.
He has made some mistakes true, but his positives far outweigh any negatives in the way he plays the game.

To compare them at Test level (the closest comparison available)
Tomkins has 5 from 10, 4 against Wales and 1 against the Kiwis.
Slater has 18 from 18, 5 against the Kiwis, 3 against Fiji, 1 against PNG and 9 against England.

Slater played his first Test in May 2008
Tomkins played his first Test Oct 2009

[quote="JonB95"]Slater is not the perfect player that people seem to think he is - he still has a tendency to go missing in big games (like today!)

Is that maybe because he suffered a knee injury in the first half and is now out for 8 weeks!!

nathn wrote:

rather have paul wellens then either of these two

Really !

Wellens at his peak was a great defensive fb and came into the line really well but, imo he is not (even in his dreams) capable of some of the stuff that Slater has done.
Btw, Tomkins is very good but nowhere near Slater, great player though and worth paying to watch.

Jonesy wrote:

Slater has the runs on the board over many years at top level.
He has made some mistakes true, but his positives far outweigh any negatives in the way he plays the game.

To compare them at Test level (the closest comparison available)
Tomkins has 5 from 10, 4 against Wales and 1 against the Kiwis.
Slater has 18 from 18, 5 against the Kiwis, 3 against Fiji, 1 against PNG and 9 against England.

Slater played his first Test in May 2008
Tomkins played his first Test Oct 2009

I don't think test levels a fair comparison tbh.
Im not buying into all the hype and I don't think Slaters super human either but I definately agree with the opinion that Tomkins has the POTENTIAL to be a very, very good player and should move to the NRL, he'd genuinely be a superstar whichever position he plays (as obviously he's only played fullback for 2 seasons). He could well end up back at 6 for Wigan but at FB he attacks so well. IMO weak under the bomb (to an extent, defensively he looks heroic compared to Uate tbh) or not i'd rather have him than Stewart tomorrow tbh

Dico wrote:

I don't think test levels a fair comparison tbh.
Im not buying into all the hype and I don't think Slaters super human either but I definately agree with the opinion that Tomkins has the POTENTIAL to be a very, very good player and should move to the NRL, he'd genuinely be a superstar whichever position he plays (as obviously he's only played fullback for 2 seasons). He could well end up back at 6 for Wigan but at FB he attacks so well. IMO weak under the bomb (to an extent, defensively he looks heroic compared to Uate tbh) or not i'd rather have him than Stewart tomorrow tbh

Tomkins is a very good player.
I doubt any NRL Clubs would use him as a Fullback, he would be groomed as a Halfback or 5/8th.

5/8th is his natural position anyway, it was Maguire who identified him as a potential fullback and after having Leuleui and Finch at halves it was a way of getting him into the attacking line. But no, he'd go well in the NRL as would a few others, i'd like to see them go and I think a lot will over the coming years which is why the increased British production line over recent years needs to continue improving so we can replace these players in our game.

NickyKiss wrote:

There's no real answer at the end of the day.

Who's the better full back? Slater
Who's the more creative player? Tomkins

[wolfinwidnes]

Madderzahatter wrote:

Who's the better full back? Slater
Who's the more creative player? slater

edited for accuracy

In my opinion.....Slater is stronger and as such more likely to break a defence. He is also better in defence. Slater is good at support play and returns a ball at real pace.

Tomkins is capable of all the above, however isn't the finished article...he needs to add some bulk so he isn't manhandled in defence. However, Tomkins is by far the more creative of the two...he is more able to create a gap and make a defence look foolish...whereas Slater is better at being put through a gap and holding off a tackle.

Tomkins in 5 years will be better than Slater is now in my opinion.....but agree...he needs to go to the NRL to really become a superstar.

[quote="wolfinwidnes"]edited for accuracy[/quote]

You're joking, right?