Sam Tomkins wins in the international Rookie of the Year category - Rugby League
On Wednesday, November 3, at the 2011 Annual Award Ceremony of the Rugby League International Federation, Sam Tomkins, who plays for Wigan and England, won in the international Rookie of the Year category. The ceremony was held at the Tower of London, in
Auckland.
Australians dominated in the list of nominations, with a very few on-field positions won by England. Tomkins along with Wigan’s Winger, Pat Richards, made the English side a little a happy with their end of year acknowledgements.
Overall, there were eleven awards given away for on-field positions, which included mainly Australian award winners.
Tomkins beat Ryan Hall, to be tagged as the most promising young player in the world of rugby League, whereas Todd Carney of Sydney Roosters prevailed as the player of the year award.
For the full-back position, Darius Boyd of St George Illawarra and Australia was rated the best, where as Shaun Kenny-Dowall of Sydney Roosters and New Zealand bested out others in nominations for the centre position.
For Scrum-half’s spot, Scott Prince of Gold Coast and Australia won in the category, whereas Adrian Morley of Warrington Wolves and England has won for the prop’s slot. Robbie Farah, who plays for Wests Tigers and Australia, outdid others in the hookers’
category and Luke Lewis who plays for both Penrith and Australia won amongst the Loose forward nominations.
The annual awards were not only given for on field contributions of players but acknowledgements were also given to coach and Referee of the Year.
Wayne Bennett walked away as the coach of the year 2011 for his brilliant coaching skills, which was evident from St George Illawarra’s performance throughout the year.
The awards reveal that England failed to win in the positional category. This was heart wrenching for the English side as this is the first time in five years that they had failed to set their mark by the end of the year.
The awards should worry the English side because they are all set to battle against Kangaroos, who have weighed down England completely just ahead of their showdown against each other at Wembley over the weekend.
Tags: