Wigan loanee Toby King delivers on "show them" vow as Warrington left red-faced
On-loan Wigan star Toby King was miffed that parent club Warrington let him face them in the Challenge Cup - so ruthlessly made them pay.
The England centre is on a season-long loan at Warriors and wasn’t expecting to be able to feature in Sunday’s quarter-final. But King, 26, did and not only scored one try but also created Wigan’s other in a brilliant against-the-odds 14-12 win. He admitted: “I didn’t know whether to be offended by the fact that the club wasn’t bothered about saying I couldn’t play against them.
“I did have that in the back of my mind and I took it in a way where I thought ‘I’ll show them.’ But I just wanted to have a really good game, regardless of who I was playing. I’m so proud of these boys. Matty (Peet) has put a lot of belief in me this year and just told me exactly what he wanted for this game. I wanted to repay that faith he's put in me.
“It was some feeling to get the win. I’ve a lot of friends in that (Warrington) group and it won’t go down well. It is a weird feeling, I can’t lie. I’ve played there all my career and to play for their rivals and come out on top, especially when I was getting booed by the fans…”
Cup holders Wigan overcame Kaide Ellis’ seventh minute red card for headbutting Stefan Ratchford to set up a semi-final date with Hull KR at Headingley on Sunday July 23 (5pm). That means King will face big brother George, 28, the KR prop, for a place at Wembley. He said: “I was gutted when I found out: I really wanted to meet in the final!
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“Matt (Peet) invited all the dads into the changing room for Father’s Day and mine just said to me at least one of us will be going to the final. It’ll be the Battle of the Kings. It will be a tough day for the family as one of us will be buzzing - and one won’t. George has been one of Super League’s best forwards this year and KR one of the best teams so it should be a great semi.”
Wigan Warriors' Toby King scores in the Challenge Cup quarter-final against Warrington Wolves (Mark Cosgrove/News Images)King scored 52 tries in 138 Warrington appearances, including winning the Challenge Cup with them in 2019, before becoming one of their two marquee players when signing a bumper new deal two years later. But after new coach Daryl Powell arrived, he was farmed out on loan for 12 games to hometown Huddersfield last year before his switch to Wigan. However, he is expected to return to Wolves in 2024 when new homegrown marquee salary rulings will see him cost just £50,000 on their cap.
Meanwhile, King - who played for Ireland in last year's World Cup before making his England debut against France in April - explained just how gruelling Sunday's win was. He said: "It was just a tough game. We knew Warrington would come at us, especially with having 12 men. It made it hard but we did that for Kaide. I was gutted for him. I feel like he didn’t deserve that. He’s a really good player and one of our best forwards. To lose him was tough. l felt like we had to (lift). At the back end, we knew it was just going to be one of those games where it was going to go down to the wire and we had to just dig in and keep going to hopefully get the win. And we did."
But Ellis has been hit with a three-match ban and £250 fine by the match review panel for his sending off so will miss Sunday's game at Salford and fixtures with Huddersfield and Wakefield. Hull centre Josh Griffin faces a tribunal on a grade F charge of questioning the authority of a match official after his red card against St Helens so could miss at least six games. Leigh's Kai O'Donnell also goes before Tuesday's tribunal on a grade F charge for his horror spear tackle against York which saw him dismissed, too.
Saturday July 22 at Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington
Women’s Challenge Cup semi-final - St Helens v York (KO 11.45am)
Men’s semi-final - St Helens v Leigh (KO 2.30pm).
Sunday July 23 at Headingley, Leeds
Women’s Challenge Cup semi-final - Wigan v Leeds (KO 2.15pm)
Men’s semi-final - Wigan v Hull KR (KO 5pm).
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