Tomkins setback could delay his return

Sam Tomkins has not played since last September

Coach Shaun Wane has revealed Tomkins has struggled to run with a surgical plate – and may now be sidelined until the start of June.

The full-back had pencilled in an April comeback from the broken foot injury he suffered last September.

He is set to meet a specialist to see whether he should undergo an operation to remove the plate, which would rule him out for between six and eight weeks.

Wane revealed: “He tried to run with the plate and he’s still struggling, so we’re debating whether to take the plate our or not. If that happens, it’s six to eight weeks.

“We’re having a chat to the physios and the specialist.

“He just wants to play, I feel sorry for him. I felt personally gutted when he tried to run last week and struggled with it, I could see he was down.

“We’ll speak to the specialist and make sure we get him right.”

Former Man of Steel Tomkins, 28, returned to Wigan last season after a two-year spell with NRL outfit New Zealand Warriors.

Hooker Micky McIlorum experienced a similar problem earlier this year.

He experienced discomfort with a plate protecting his broken ankle, and underwent further surgery to have it removed.

The 29-year-old is now in training and Wane has pencilled in an Easter return for the England international, who hasn’t played in 14 months.

There is even a possibility he could figure next week, when high-flying Castleford visit the DW Stadium.

“If I said you’re good for Friday, he’d genuinely play,” smiled Wane, at his weekly press conference today. “It could be St Helens, it could be Cas’, or it could be the week after Saints, it’s fine. We’ve managed without him for that long, I’m not rushing him back.

“But he’s training well. It’s funny, the physios are saying, ‘You can’t run today’, and he won’t have it - he’s stubborn. The one person he will listen to is me!

“He’s arguing with the physios and I have to look at him with a stern face and tell him he can’t, and then he walks out sulking and won’t speak to me for a day.

“But I admire him for wanting to train.”