Sam Tomkins says Warriors club culture lacked professionalism

WARRIORS fullback Sam Tomkins has slammed the culture of the Kiwi club, saying he was shocked at the way it approached the game.

Sam Tomkins of the New Zealand Warriors fends off a challenge from Euan Aitken of the Dragons during their round 22 NRL match at Westpac Stadium, Wellington on Saturday, August 08, 2015. (AAP Image/David Rowland) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY

NEW Zealand Warriors star Sam Tomkins has taken a stab at the operations of his own club, saying their club culture “lacked professionalism”.

In an article written for the NZ Herald, Tomkins said he was surprised at the lack of discipline during his early days in New Zealand.

“I was quite surprised at the culture when I first arrived here in January 2014. It wasn’t very strict compared to what I had been used to,” he said.

“It was a little more relaxed, which isn’t necessarily a good thing and, overall, there probably wasn’t enough discipline.”

The fullback was shocked that the responsibilities of players were not being held to the standard commonly accepted in professional sport.

“It became obvious things like punctuality — people would be late more often than I had experienced — or not doing the right things in training or away from the club were happening. Essentially, individuals were not being entirely professional.

“Even though you might be at training for five or six hours a day, it doesn’t stop there — you have a duty to be looking after yourself and not everyone was doing that,” Tomkins said.

The Englishman signed with the Warriors at the start of the 2014 season following six years playing for Wigan Warriors in the English Super League.

Tomkins will return to England at the end of the 2015 season, the country he has played 88 times for.

Tomkins is confident the standards held at Wigan far exceeded those of New Zealand’s lone NRL franchise when he first arrived at the club.

Despite initially struggling to find his feet in the NZ setup, Tomkins claimed the Warriors are on their way to forging a strong culture, which he feels is vital in breeding success.

“At Wigan, standards didn’t get compromised. It was a shock for me here at first but it’s definitely moving in the right direction and completely different to how it was. It’s now becoming that strict, professional environment paramount for success,” he said.

The Warriors are currently sitting 10th on the NRL ladder and will likely miss out on making the finals for the fourth year running. Despite a disappointing season, Tomkins said the Warriors still have the makings of a strong side.

“In terms of this year, we have to keep pushing to finish the season strongly. The last three games have hurt but we have played teams who have just been better than us on the day. But you don’t suddenly become a bad side over a couple of weeks and we still believe in ourselves,” he said.

“We need to look at how we have played before and the good things we have done in recent weeks. By dwelling on that, we can build confidence.”

Tomkins announced earlier this year that he would leave New Zealand at the end of the 2015 season to return to England, noting his struggles with homesickness as his reason for leaving.