Karl Fitzpatrick reveals failed swap deal involving Toby King

Warrington have been one of the more active teams in the off-season with plenty of comings and goings at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.

Whilst they haven’t made a marquee signing as such, Daryl Powell has added six quality players who have all competed at the top level.

One player that they missed out on though was Jake Wardle, with Chief Executive Karl Fitzpatrick claiming “ridiculous demands” from Huddersfield Giants prevented any deal as he eventually signed for Wigan.

The CEO’s comments came during a fan’s forum and off the back of explaining why Wardle wasn’t going to be wearing Primrose and Blue in 2023, a fan asked “what about Toby King?”

Fitzpatrick responded: “We offered that (offered King as part of a deal for Wardle) but Toby has got three years left with us so we’d have to pay Toby a substantial amount of money. It just didn’t make sense.”

King has also ended up joining Wigan on a season-long loan for 2023, the second loan in as many years for King who was part of a swap loan deal last season that saw him join Huddersfield and Wardle link up with the Wolves.

As mentioned, King, who is still only 26, has a deal at Warrington until November 2025 with many supporters bemused at the decision to allow him to leave on loan given the lack of options at centre.

Fitzpatrick was questioned as to what the long-term holds for King, to which he responded: “Ooft unsure, unsure. Yeah it just worked best at this stage for both parties that he went on a season long loan to Wigan.

“Look, it worked best for both parties. Things do change, we’ve got a decent relationship with Toby but it was best for his game and best that doesn’t come back here this season at this stage.”