New deals for Tomkins brothers

Sam Tomkins
12 April 2012

Super League champions Wigan have tied brothers and England internationals Joel and Sam Tomkins to new five-year contracts and agreed fresh deals with four other players.

The Warriors chose their pre-season media day at the JJB Stadium to announce the retention of five home-grown players and Samoan international Harrison Hansen.

Second-rower Joel Tomkins, 23, whose current contract was due to run out at the end of the season, and full-back Sam, 21, who had four years left on his deal, have both committed to their home-town club until the end of 2015, ending any realistic chance of either player moving to Australia or rugby union.

"It is excellent news for the club and its fans that we have been able to secure the long-term future of both Sam and Joel," said Wigan chairman Ian Lenagan. "It is a great boost to everyone. The pair played a huge part in what the Wigan club achieved last season and are a major part of our plans for the next five years.

"Whilst rumours suggested the inevitability that such players must move to NRL clubs or rugby union, we are delighted at their preference for rugby league, their loyalty to Wigan and their belief that in Super League they can be part of an evolving and winning England team."

Sam Tomkins, Super League's young player of the year for the last two seasons, said: "It was quite an easy decision. There is nowhere else I want to go at the moment.

"It has been a whirlwind couple of seasons for me. The club has been magnificent and I am more than happy to repay their loyalty with performances on the field and, hopefully, some more silverware."

Joel added: "I have been here since I was 13 and loved every minute. I grew up watching the club and I'm happy to be here for the next five years."

Logan Tomkins, an 18-year-old hooker who played alongside his brothers in Wednesday's trial match at Warrington, is one of six youngsters promoted to Michael Maguire's Super League squad for this year and is contracted for three years.

Meanwhile, loose forward Liam Farrell, 21, a distant cousin of former Wigan and Great Britain captain Andy Farrell, and centre Josh Charnley, 19, have also signed new five-year contracts. England winger Darrell Goulding, 22, and second-rower Hansen, 25, have penned three-year deals.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in