page_title: Sam Tomkins
section_title: 2010 season
hierarchical_section_title: Sam Tomkins / Professional playing career / Wigan Warriors / 2010 season
caption_attribution_description: English: Sam Tomkins playing for the Wigan Warriors at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadium.
context_page_description: Sam Tomkins is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a fullback or scrum-half for the Catalans Dragons in the Betfred Super League and England at international level.
  He won three Super League Grand Finals with the Wigan Warriors in 2010, 2013 and 2018, as well as two Challenge Cup finals in 2011 and 2013. He previously played for the New Zealand Warriors in the NRL for two seasons before return to Wigan in the Super League.
context_section_description: Following the play-off loss to St. Helens, Noble announced his departure from the club after not being offered a new contract, and five days later Michael Maguire was revealed as the new head coach of Wigan. In Maguire's 2010 squad, Tomkins' position as Wigan's first choice stand-off was confirmed when he received the number 6 jersey from the departed Smith. The club also signed Wigan-born Paul Deacon during the pre-season, with the intention of having him mentor Tomkins in an assistant coaching role.
  Tomkins played in every match of Wigan's 2010 season. He started in three cup matches, scoring hat-tricks against the Sheffield Eagles and Widnes. He also featured in all of Wigan's fixtures of 2010's Super League XV regular season, with the team finishing top of the league table and winning the League Leader's Shield. By virtue of this the team qualified for the play-offs, in which Tomkins made a further four appearances on the way to Wigan's Grand Final victory over St. Helens—the club's first league title since 1998's Super League III, and Tomkins' first honour as a player.
  Tomkins was played at scrum-half for Wigan's round 12 fixture against Harlequins with Sean O'Loughlin covering his position at stand-off instead. In round 19, again against Harlequins, Tomkins marked his first league appearance as a fullback with the game's first score and a try-saving tackle on Lamont Bryan. The Daily Mirror reported Maguire as saying, "Sam wanted a go at fullback and played very well. He's a quality kid in any position." He remained in that position for the rest of the season, including the Grand Final, except for one match against Warrington in round 22 where he was reverted to stand-off again.
  Over 34 total appearances, Tomkins improved on his 2009 record with 21 tries and four goals. In the league, he claimed four braces in total: once as a stand-off against Hull, and three times as a fullback against Salford, Hull again and Leeds. 
  He also scored a try in the 2010 Super League Grand Final victory over St. Helens at Old Trafford. 
  Despite finishing the season as Wigan's regular fullback, Tomkins maintained his place in the 2010 Super League Dream Team in the stand-off position. Also in the team was Joel Tomkins at second-row. This was the first time a Super League Dream Team had featured two brothers. 
  At 2010's Super League XV awards evening, where his Wigan teammate Pat Richards was voted by his fellow Super League players as Man of Steel for having the biggest impact on the season, Tomkins retained his Young Player of the Year title. 
  He also received 2010's Albert Goldthorpe Medal for 'best and fairest' player of the season. He was also named Rookie of the Year by the Rugby League International Federation during the 2010 Four Nations, in which he played for England.
caption: Tomkins playing for Wigan in 2010
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