Sam Burgess and James Graham can try to keep up: this Pommy’s a try-scoring machine who is coming to an NRL ground near you in 2014. Fullback Sam Tomkins, the English Super League’s golden boy, has talent to burn and is out to dazzle the 13-a-side universe in this month's Rugby League World Cup.

WHAT’S HIS STORY?

Born in Milton Keynes but raised in northern England, Tomkins comes from a rugby league family. His older brother, Joel, is a former Wigan Warriors player who now plies his trade in rugby union with Saracens, while younger brother, Logan, is a club team-mate. But it’s middle child Sam, the 24-year-old fullback and England star, who’s the pick of the bunch. A product of the Wigan nurseries St John Fisher and St Patricks, Tomkins made his first-grade debut at the age of 19 in the Challenge Cup, becoming the first player ever to score five tries on debut.

This performance was no flash in the plan, either, as Tomkins, named as Trent Barrett’s replacement at five-eighth in 2009, continued to excel in his first full season in the top flight. That year he made his debut for England, scored 15 tries in 27 games, was named Super League Young Player of the Year and was selected in the competition’s Dream Team. In 2010 Tomkins continued to develop as he moved from five-eighth to fullback and helped Wigan to victory in the grand final.

In the past three seasons the dynamic attacker has improved out of sight. He claimed the Challenge Cup trophy in 2011, won Super League’s Man Of Steel award in 2012 and continued to rack up tries for fun. This year he added another Challenge Cup title, scoring a brilliant try in the dying minutes of Wigan’s 16-0 win. Tomkins scores roughly a try every game, with 143 four-pointers from his first 146 club appearances, and has a similar record in Test footy (19 from 19).

WHO’S HE LIKE?

Tomkins has been dubbed the "English Billy Slater", but experienced Australian coach Ian Millward likens him more to now-former North Queensland custodian Matt Bowen: "The way he can squeeze himself out of trouble; he

can come up with a little of the unexpected." Warrington Wolves’ Aussie coach, Tony Smith, who gave Tomkins his international debut with England, says the Wigan superstar is hard to compare with any player. "He’s different," Smith says. "Sam’s got such an enormous step; an ability to change direction. He’s his own prototype. Terrific speed, anticipation of breaks and finishing."

Versatile, fast and slight but still tough, with an impressive passing game, the gumption to take on defenders and a nose for sniffing out a try from anywhere, Tomkins is the complete package. His former Wigan coach, current Souths boss Michael Maguire, described him in 2011 as a special player: "The consistency in how he plays is something that will allow him to go on and be a great player in the game." Rumour had circulated that Tomkins’ future was headed in one of two directions – to the National Rugby League or a cross-code shift to English rugby. But with the Burgess boys, Graham and other Englishmen thriving down under, it was the New Zealand Warriors who were the winners of Tomkins' services – for three years – from 2014.

Tomkins has won everything on offer in England and this month’s World Cup could could be the perfect farewell stage for the flying fullback.

So how will Super League’s pin-up star, the highest-paid and highest-profile league player in the competition, go in the NRL cauldron? "It will be a bit of a learning curve for Sam, but I’ve got no doubt he’ll be successful there," Smith believes. "He’ll adapt." Millward agrees: "It’s a proven module that if you buy an elite English player, or one that’s a current Test player, he’ll definitely handle the NRL. That goes right back to the ‘50s or ‘60s."

− John Davidson