Owen Farrell 'the best rugby league player of last 10 years'

Owen Farrell has been hailed as the “the best rugby league player of the last 10 years” despite not playing a game in the 13-a-side code.

Sam Tomkins, poised to captain England at the upcoming Rugby League World Cup, says that the Saracens fly-half has “everything” to succeed in league and suggested that he would have been better than his father, Andy.

“I think Owen would be the best player in Super League every single year,” Tomkins said in a wide-ranging interview with Jim Hamilton for The Big Jim Show.

“He’s that good. He’s the best rugby league player of the last 10 years and he’s never played a game.”

“If you had to design a rugby league player, and got all the best rugby league brains in the world and came up with a player, it’d be Owen Farrell, without doubt,” Tomkins added.

“He’s tough, he’s resilient, he’s very smart, he reads the game very well. He can kick, he can pass. If you run into him, he’ll smash you. He’s got everything. I’m Owen’s biggest fan, as you can probably tell.

“There isn’t a bit of his game that he lacks. He pushes things a bit far sometimes and might [be penalised for] a high tackle, but you need that in league. You have to have that in your armoury and sometimes, you can have amazing players that don’t have that bit of grit that Owen has got.”

“Owen has the perfect blend, I think, and if he had played Super League, I think he’d be the best player we’ve ever seen. His dad was one of, if not the best. His uncle, Sean O’Loughlin, is one of the very best in the last 15 years, so why would he not be? I think he’d be better than his dad, better than his uncle and better than anyone in the last 10 years.”

Farrell has amassed more than 1,100 points in Test rugby union over 103 matches for England and the British and Irish Lions. Only Dan Carter and Jonny Wilkinson, both regarded as modern greats, boast more.

Having only turned 31 last month, there is still time to hop codes and Tomkins would be eager to watch Farrell’s progress in league.

“I know that he likes rugby league but I know that he’s ultra-successful in rugby union,” said Tomkins, whose England side begin their World Cup campaign in Newcastle against Samoa on October 15 before further pool matches against France and Greece.

“If I were him, I’d be doing exactly what he’s doing. He’s enjoying himself. He’s a star of the game and a star all over the world in rugby union.

“If he ever did fancy it at the end of his career, it’d be amazing to see what he could do because I do genuinely believe he’d be an unbelievable rugby league player.”