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Toby King says the Sam Burgess effect is spurring Warrington towards a bright new era as they prepare to embark on their opening Betfred Super League play-off clash against St Helens at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Saturday.
King played a key role in Wigan’s Grand Final triumph over Catalans last season during a brief loan with Matt Peet’s men before returning to the club with whom he had come through the ranks and has made more than 150 career appearances.
And the 28-year-old centre found the club almost unrecognisable since the high-profile arrival of head coach Burgess, who proceeded to lead them to a Challenge Cup final and a third-place finish in the regular season in his first campaign in charge.
“When I went back the place was buzzing,” King told the PA news agency. “Sam brought so much excitement and no-one was really dwelling on the disappointment of previous years. You could tell from the off that it was going to be a much better place.”
King had fallen out of favour with Burgess’s predecessor Daryl Powell, and spent loan periods at Huddersfield and Wigan, admitting the circumstances of his departure had made him question the decision to move back to a club for whom he made his top-flight debut in 2014.
“I was hesitant about going back but it was like going into a completely new club,” added King. “I’d only been gone for 18 months but the place was almost unrecognisable. Sam has brought the good feeling back and it really feels like the town has a club to be proud of again.”
King featured in both Warrington’s previous Grand Final losses in 2016 and 2018, and Wire will have to do it the hard way if they are to break their duck, with a trip to second-placed Hull KR the prize if they are to sink nine-time winners Saints on Saturday.
Paul Wellens’ men scrambled into the post-season despite losing their final match of an inconsistent and injury-plagued season at Leigh, meaning they face the unlikely challenge of being the first team to emerge from the sixth and final play-off place to win the title.
But there have been bright spots in a tough campaign for Saints, and few have shone more than 20-year-old front row George Delaney, who earned plaudits in a squad that has otherwise appeared a shadow of the side that swept to four successive Grand Final titles from 2019.
Delaney says the criticism meted out to both Wellens and many of his team-mates has given them more motivation to add another chapter to their post-season history – one of the few that they will begin as significant underdogs.
“It’s definitely an unusual position to be in having won four in a row so recently, but the season is done now and we can’t change where we are,” said Delaney. “It’s a new challenge to try to be the first team to win it from sixth, and if anyone can, I think we’re the team to do it.
“It’s been tough this season and we’ve definitely been aware of our players getting some stick. But we’ve tried to avoid it and stay strong as a group. The mood has been great this week and I think it has given us the drive to go on and win it.”
