Men
Sam Tomkins Comes Out of Retirement
19 Jul 2024
Catalans Dragons have announced the return of Sam Tomkins to the squad until the end of the 2024 season.
Sam Tomkins, who announced his retirement last season, has come out of retirement to play for the Dragons.
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— Dragons Catalans (@DragonsOfficiel) July 19, 2024
Les Dragons sont heureux d’annoncer le retour de Sam Tomkins dans l’effectif jusqu’à la fin de la saison 2024.
Agé de 35 ans, le double Man of Steel, qui avait annoncé sa retraite au terme de la saison dernière, va donc reprendre la… pic.twitter.com/BYow7Mdv1N
Having progressed through the Wigan Youth Development System, Sam Tomkins won three Super League Grand Finals, two Challenge Cups and two League Leaders Shields with the Cherry and Whites. Named Super League Young Player of the Year award twice in 2009 and 2010, he then featured in five successive Super League Dream Team’s and was the 2012 Man of Steel. Tomkins scored 158 tries in 186 games for Wigan.
He left his hometown club to join the NRL and the New Zealand Warriors in 2014, scoring 14 tries in 37 NRL games before returning to Wigan after two seasons Down Under.
He joined the Dragons in 2019. Named in the 2021 Dream Team, he has also been named Man of Steel and won the League Leaders Shield with the club. He scored 33 tries and 418 points in 104 games with the Dragons in 5 seasons in Perpignan.
In 16 professional seasons, he made 274 Super League appearances, scoring 160 tries and 1169 points.
— Dragons Catalans (@DragonsOfficiel) July 19, 2024
On this news, Sam Tomkins said: "I didn’t think this would be happening, but I’m excited be back playing for Catalans. I’m passionate about the club so when Steve asked about the possibility of me returning to the playing group, I couldn’t say no.
"The time since last year’s Grand Final has given me time to recover physically and mentally. I’m ready.
"I have been training for the last few weeks and feel good so I look forward to adding to what is already a talented group of players for the remaining games of 2024.
Steve McNamara, Catalans Dragons Head Coach commented:
"With the time he’s had to rest, rehab and freshen up, Sam has looked outstanding when joining in our training sessions. From a simple question about how he’d feel about playing again a flame was lit.
"I’ve never seen him as excited as this before. Witnessing him both physically and mentally it was a no brainer for us to register him. We are adding a great player and a true leader to our team for the rest of 2024."
