Dream come true for Joel
JOEL Tomkins was in dreamland yesterday after earning a place in the Super League DreamTeam.
The second-rower was one of four Wigan players named in the fictitious line-up alongside brother Sam, winger Pat Richards and loose forward Sean O’Loughlin.
Sam kept his stand-off shirt from last year, while the other three were making their debuts in the side that is voted for by a select panel of journalists and broadcasters.
Wigan had more players in the side than any other club, while this year marked the first time that two brothers have appeared in a Dream Team.
And speaking at the official presentation at Old Trafford yesterday, Joel said: “This wasn’t something I’d really thought about so I was really pleased to be named in the team.
“There are a lot of quality forwards in the competition and I was really chuffed when I was told I’d been chosen.
“It makes it even more special that Sam, Pat and Lockers are in.
“For the club to have four players in says a lot about how well we’ve gone this year.”
The 13 players in the team of the year have scored a combined total of more than 150 tries, more than a third of which have come courtesy of the four Warriors players selected.
Wigan lifted the League Leaders’ Shield in front of more than 17,000 fans last Friday night and Tomkins, 23, says they want to keep the feel-good factor going all the way to the Grand Final on October 2.
He added: “We’ve put ourselves into a really strong position.
“We’ve got Leeds next and it should be a great game, and we’ll go into on a bit of a high.
“Obviously we collected the shield last week, it wasn’t our best performance against Bradford but seeing how happy the fans were afterwards gave us all a bit of a buzz, and we’re going into it with confidence.”
Fans rushed to secure their seats for Sunday night’s mouth-watering showdown (kick-off 6.45pm) when tickets went on sale yesterday.
Wigan have sold 4,000 tickets for their play-off showdown against Leeds.
Season ticket holders have been reminded they have until 5pm tomorrow to claim their existing seats, and take advantage of a £3 discount.
FORMER Wigan coach Brian Noble appears poised to leave Crusaders after just one year and take up a coaching role at Australian side Penrith Panthers.
And that has fuelled speculation that he may try and lure Gareth Hock to the NRL when his drugs ban expires next summer.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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