Tuesday 18 September 2018 23:19, UK
Sam Tomkins has promised Wigan Warriors' supporters to expect an emotional ending when they tackle Warrington Wolves in Saturday night's Super League Grand Final at Old Trafford.
Tomkins will be playing for New Zealand Warriors next year, with the NRL side thought to be paying Wigan a world-record transfer fee of around £700,000 to acquire his services.
The England full-back, who is aiming to lead the Cherry and Whites to a rare Super League and Tetley's Challenge Cup double, believes it's the final everyone wants to see.
"It's going to be very tough," said the 24-year-old. "Warrington have proved that they're a form side in the competition, but we've done the same with our play-off games against Huddersfield and Leeds and every time we play against Warrington it's a great game.
"I think this is the final that all the fans have wanted for a number of years now, and they've got it, so I'm sure it's going to be a good one."
Tomkins could lead the side without captain Sean O'Loughlin, who is suffering from an Achilles injury, and admits it will be the proudest moment of his career if he was to wear the armband.
"It's a club that I love," he said. "The group of players that I might be leading out I see as 30 of my best friends in this squad.
"I'd love Lockers (O'Loughlin) to play as much as anything. He's our best player and to miss your best player in the final is not ideal, but we've proved we can deal with that and if he doesn't quite make it then we'll make sure we can do all we can to win it for him.
"There will be a few players on both sides who will be playing their last game and for your last game to be at Old Trafford is unbelievable, but not everybody will go home happy on Saturday.
"There's going to be some sad faces after 80 minutes and hopefully it won't be us."
There will be a few players on both sides who will be playing their last game and for your last game to be at Old Trafford is unbelievable, but not everybody will go home happy on Saturday. There's going to be some sad faces after 80 minutes and hopefully it won't be us.
Tomkins played his last home game in the 22-12 victory against defending champions Leeds Rhinos at the DW Stadium on Friday night and when asked if it has started to hit home that Saturday's clash will be his last game, he said: "Yeah, it is. Going into the Leeds game I never thought of it as my last game. I was confident that we were going to win.
"It was emotional being the last game at the DW because it's a stadium that I dreamt about playing at as a kid, but now it's certainly sinking in that this will be the last time I'll have this (Wigan) jersey on for at least a number of years, so I certainly want to go out on a high.
"I'm trying my best to put it to the back of my mind until after the 80 minutes on Saturday really.
"It's pretty tough because I've had people stop me in Wigan and say 'How does it feel being your last game?', but I try not to think about it and people mention it to me all the time, so I've had to deal with that."
Watch the Grand Final LIVE on Sky Sports 2 HD from 5pm on Saturday. You can also see the drama unfold with SkyGo, or go online to read our interactive blog on the action from Old Trafford
