Warrington Wolves boss reveals reason behind Toby King exit as succession plan laid out

Warrington Wolves will continue to back their youth after boss Sam Burgess explained the club’s plans following the news that Toby King will leave the club.

King, who made his Wire debut in 2014 and has made just over 250 appearances in his career, will leave the Halliwell Jones Stadium at the end of the season to join London Broncos.

Joining the Super League hopefuls on a two-year contract, King’s departure leaves a starting centre spot. Whilst the club in the past would have recruited, likely from overseas, they instead plan to promote from within, and they’d be silly not to, given the talent coming through.

Burgess commented on King’s next steps in his press conference ahead of their would-be win over St Helens. The England legend said: “I’m happy for Tobes, he’s a great character and we love him at the club. He’s been here for a long time.

“It’s just part of the salary cap sport, we can’t fit everyone in. He’s an in-demand player, and we just can’t match the offers that were coming in for him.

“I want all my players to do well off the field and Toby has made the decision to go and challenge himself down there.

“I think London are really having a go so first and foremost, I’m pleased for both Toby and London, but for us, we back our juniors.”

Revealing who could potentially take his place, Burgess explained: “We’ve got Zack Gardner and Arron Lindop there, so let’s hope one of those jumps forward and takes that number four spot.

“The plan is to promote from inside like we did with Cai [Taylor-Wray] in a similar sort of process, like we did with Ewan [Irwin] and Leon [Hayes] for this year, like you’re seeing with Luke Thomas, Adam Holroyd. That’s our plan as a club.

“We plan to promote from inside and develop our own and then recruit where we think we can add, so when Toby moves on, the next one comes through, which will be Zack or Arron. I think it’s a good position to be in.”

Gardner made his first appearance of the season in the win over Saints, but lasted less than 10 minutes after dislocating his shoulder in a collision. Lindop played in last year’s Challenge Cup Final defeat, and had a stellar start to life in the first team before an ACL injury against Leeds Rhinos ended his season.

Josh Smith has also burst onto the scene after excelling since his move from the Queensland Cup. He will no doubt be in contention for a starting jersey after his efforts in the first half of the season.

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