Life cannot have been easy growing up for Logan Tomkins. The youngest of three brothers, he spent his formative years having to watch his two siblings, Sam and Joel, make waves with Wigan, and must have known that once he followed in their footsteps and made his debut for his hometown club, comparisons would follow.
“People used to say: ‘There’s another Tomkins brother’ and watch me more closely because of it,” he says, jokingly. “And if I didn’t play that well, people would be all over me.”
Yet Tomkins is not afraid to admit he could not quite emulate his brothers’ success at Wigan, being released at the end of 2015 to take up a permanent deal with Salford.
But the move is paying dividends. While Logan will always be judged on his surname by some, the chance to start afresh and step out of his brothers’ shadow has been a major plus for the 24-year-old’s career.
“It’s been a great move,” he says, before Sunday’s match at Wakefield. “Prior to this, Wigan is all I’ve really known. I didn’t see myself furthering my career there and neither did Wigan to be fair, so it felt best for me to forge my own path in the game.
“It’s been different [being at Salford], but in a good way. I’ve not been compared to anyone here and I feel like I’m crafting my own career in the game without being compared to people for whatever reason. I’ve sort of stepped out of the shadows and feel like I’m building a career of my own.”
Tomkins was involved in the Salford squad who narrowly avoided relegation in last year’s Million Pound Game, but this season, with two wins from their first four games, the top eight is the goal and Tomkins believes they are already showing signs of improvement.
“I think the Salford of a couple of years ago would have crumbled in some of the games we’ve been in this season,” he says.
“We’ve turned a corner, but we’re not happy with the start: it’s only been OK. We think we’re a top team and we’ve tripped up at Wakefield a few times before. This is a good game for us to show what we can do this year.”
Having been handed the No9 shirt by Ian Watson at the start of the season, Tomkins is beginning to show the potential he was believed by many to possess at Wigan, but he insists he has proved nothing yet.
“I’ve got the No9 shirt, but I need to prove I am the No9,” he says. “Squad numbers don’t mean anything. I have to prove I can be a team’s starting hooker now. People don’t associate me as a Tomkins brother anymore, I’m just Logan Tomkins: my own person. It’s been a breath of fresh air.”
