WARRINGTON WOLVES centre Toby King has revealed how a gout diagnosis sowed the seeds of a sour relationship with Daryl Powell at the Cheshire club.
Powell spent just one-and-a-half seasons at Warrington following an ill-fated spell with King moving to Wigan Warriors on a season-long loan ahead of the 2023 Super League campaign.
In that year, King lifted the Grand Final at Old Trafford and has revealed, on Sky Sports’ The Bench podcast, that he didn’t want to leave Wigan at first – and how his relationship with Powell wasn’t the best.
“I’ll speak openly, I’ll tell the truth. At the time, I didn’t want to leave (Wigan), but then things happened there and Warrington pulled me back.
“It just wasn’t working for me and Daryl, and he’ll be the first to admit that, but he’s going really well at Wakefield now.
“We (King and Powell) didn’t start off very well. I got diagnosed with gout in the pre-season, so I spent the first three months out. I’m fine now hopefully.”
Gout, which is an inflammation of a person’s joints, is often linked with the upper classes with alcohol and inactivity two of the major reasons as to why the disease appears.
That stereotype impaired King and Powell’s relationship, with King adding: “That’s why we didn’t get along, because of the stereotypical thing about it.
“So he comes to me and asks ‘Do you like a beer then?’, because my joints were just swelling up.
“I had to explain that I love training, I love everything about it. I didn’t get what was happening to my body.
“I thought I had rheumatoid arthritis and stuff, it was such a big scare at the time. So we never got off on the right foot.
“You can understand from his perspective, I’m not training for the first three months and he must be thinking why.
“There’s probably a bit more to it, but, we just didn’t click.”
King has since returned to the Wolves, becoming one of the club’s most consistent performers in 2024.
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