Career resurgence to the max has King firing at Bulldogs

Nicho Hynes has been the name on everyone’s lips after leaving the Storm but the career turnaround of his former teammate Max King at the Bulldogs has quietly flown under the radar.

King hasn’t missed a game in the NRL since leaving the Storm at the end of 2021 following a nasty achilles injury that turned complicated and forced him to miss more than 18 months of action.

A career lifeline by Phil Gould at the Bulldogs has given the 25-year-old a chance to rebuild his time in first grade with his third club the major beneficiary and a rarity for a player to leave Melbourne and kick on elsewhere.

His on-field numbers proving just as consistent and valuable as his leadership off the paddock with King now one of the first players picked each week by Cameron Ciraldo.

“My journey at Melbourne was a bit unfortunate in terms of I suffered an injury for the most part I was there and struggled a bit,” King said.

“Coming to the Bulldogs last year I thought as long as I got healthy the experience I had at Melbourne I could try and bring a positive part of their culture to the Bulldogs.

“I think it was a great stepping stone for my development at Melbourne.”

King reminisced at an NRL junior club rugby league launch on Wednesday when asked about his time with Hynes, who he’ll line up against this week, while working as concreters at Melbourne only two years ago.

Hynes has since become one of the faces of the game and recently signed a mega deal to remain at the Sharks until the end of the 2029 season.

“I think the bloke [that we worked for] couldn’t wait to get rid of us on work placement,” King joked.

“I remember we’d do a Melbourne work program together and were both slugging away. Nicho had probably played a game or two under his belt and was struggling.

“You saw [his potential] at training but the level he’s reached, I’m only going to be honest, I am surprised.

I think he’s surprised a lot of people. When the Sharks signed him coming from Melbourne it was seen as a bit of a risk but credit to them for sticking their neck out and backing Nicho.

“From the bottom of my heart I’m really happy for him and what he’s been through, his heart for other people he’s such an authentic bloke.

“We want him to have a shocker on the weekend though.”

The Bulldogs have been forced to reshuffle their line-up in another week that has been headlined by injuries to players in their squad.

After a journey plagued by them, King said the side’s resilience work in the pre-season would help the club overcome the current crisis.

"I feel like the injuries get spoken about a lot more externally than they do internally," he said.

"Obviously it is an issue and not ideal but it’s a next man up mentality and the boys who come up have trained all pre-season together and boys that you trust and think will do a good job.

"It’s no room for excuses. We’re not looking for any. I honestly couldn’t care less, it makes no excuse for our performances."