Few hit harder than the 24-year-old and those big tackles remain his trademark.
But a developing attacking game has helped him take ownership of the Highlanders No 12 jersey.
In his early years with the team, Tomkinson was shunted between the wing and midfield, often filling gaps or coming on as a replacement.
Following the Covid-19 break he finally got a solid run at his favoured second five-eighth position, and he has taken the opportunity.
Since then he has started every game in the jersey and alongside being a weapon on defence, he has shown an increasing ability to threaten on attack.
"That’s probably been one of my work-ons," he said.
"To get ball in hand and attack the line and use footwork and offloads.
"Those were work-ons coming back from Covid."
Despite that, he was well aware of the threats those outside him posed.
Winger Jona Nareki notably scored three tries and set up a fourth in an electric display in last week’s 39-23 win over the Chiefs.
For Tomkinson it was a case of giving the likes of Nareki the opportunity to do that as often as he could.
"For me its just trying to get the ball as quick as possible to those guys.
"They’ve got plenty of X-factor and speed out wide, so our job as insides is just to give them the ball and let them do their thing."
It is his ability to make bone-crunching tackles that remains his biggest weapon, though.
Making adjustments to do so legally, without losing any of his brutality, has been another big focus for Tomkinson.
His tackle-height has slipped up on several occasions and — as contact is increasingly policed tighter — he has seen several cards.
"A big work-on for myself has been to get that tackle height right.
"We’ve got a good defence coach here, Shane Christie, who’s put in a lot of work in the preseason.
"I’m feeling comfortable now with the way I’ve been tracking, it’s been good."
As he prepares to face a star-studded Blues line-up on Sunday, he is looking forward to the challenge of shutting them down.
"You look at that backline they’ve got a couple of All Blacks in there, X-factor across the board.
"For us it’s just we’ve got to do our job, defend hard and then looking forward to the challenge really."
Tomkinson has one year remaining on his contract with the club, although had not thought about what he would do beyond that.
He said while making the All Blacks had always been a goal, playing for Samoa — which he is eligible for through his mother — was another option in the back of his mind.
