With winners' medals and an outstanding playing record at club, state and Test level in Australia, King's arrival in the UK confirms the Super League as a competition capable of attracting the best players in the world in the prime of their career. A world-class centre or winger who has penned a four-year deal with the Wolves fresh from winning the NRL Premiership with Melbourne Storm, the tall and powerfully built Kangaroo international is one of the world's most dangerous strike players whether close to the line or from deep. Despite being a dominant player in the NRL for the past four seasons, King was a fairly late developer in establishing himself as a first grader, not really making his breakthrough until the age of 23. He had signed for North Sydney Bears in 2000 but failed to make it to the full NRL "joint venture" Northern Eagles squad, and quit the game in 2002, working as a barman and refuse collector for a while. He returned to the game in 2003 and after a brief stint with Cronulla Sharks (for whom he never played a first grade game) he moved to the Queensland Cup competition with Brisbane Norths, the "feeder" club for Melbourne Storm, impressing Storm bosses enough to call him up for an NRL debut at the end of the 2003 season. The following season saw his career take off at sensational pace, representing Country in NSW City v Country Origin in 2004 and earning his full State of Origin call for New South Wales in 2005, scoring a hat-trick in the series decider at Brisbane and winning the Brad Fittler medal for NSW player of the series. He made his introduction to the Test arena in 2005 Tri Nations competition, reaching the final with Australia, and won the Tri National with Australia in 2006.
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