Warrington Wolves have promoted rising stars Toby and George King from Meltham into their first-team training squad.
The brothers played their early amateur rugby at Meltham All Blacks and were spotted by the Wolves’ Yorkshire scout Tommy Gleeson after both appeared for the Huddersfield Giants.
Centre Toby, 17, who has scored four tries for the Academy this season, impressed in his first year and is now in his second season, earning the step-up to train alongside the Super League side under Tony Smith.
Brother George, 19, who also played at Siddal, is a prop who made the move from the Giants Academy last closed-season and will now line up against them at Laund Hill on Thursday (along with Toby).
Both Kings went to St Patrick’s and to Honley High, where they helped their school lift the national rugby league title.
Of the promotion, George said: “I am really excited about stepping up to full-time and can’t wait to get into the thick of things.
“My main goal for this season was to try and perform each week to the best of my ability and hope that it would be good enough for me to earn a full-time contract, and I am so pleased that I have managed to do that in such a short space of time.
“It is very important that I stay grounded and I just want to keep on improving in every possible way, whether that be on or off the field, and hopefully get a Super League debut in the near future.
“I’ve played with Toby before in the amateur ranks for a while, but nothing compares to playing with him at Warrington.”
Toby added: “I am absolutely delighted to make the step up to the first team from the Academy.
“The news got even better when I found out that my brother George was also stepping up into the full-time environment.
“I played against him last year while he was at Huddersfield Giants and also with him over the past couple of weeks at Warrington, and I would much rather have him on my side!
“The club has done so much for my development, not just as a player but as a person too. I have taken full advantage of the amazing facilities and coaching staff that we have here, and would like to thank all at Warrington Wolves.”
Warrington Under 19 head coach Danny Fullerton said: “George and Toby have been an absolute delight to coach.
“We have seen over the past 15 months how well Toby has done in his time here and at just 17 he has a very bright future ahead of him. We moved him into the centre part way through last season and he really did make the position his own with some breathtaking displays.
“George joined us in the close season from Huddersfield Giants and settled in immediately. His contribution in video reviews and meetings is always very well thought out and he has shown in training and on the pitch in our opening games what a quality player he is.
“Both of them are excellent people, very level headed and they will keep their feet on the ground and carry on working extremely hard to continually better themselves.
“We look forward to seeing them, hopefully, make their Super League debuts in the very near future.”
Head coach Smith added: “Both Toby and George have settled in incredibly well. They are often in our full-time squad.
“Education has been a top priority for Toby at this stage but when he’s not at college he’s been training with us – you can see the benefits for both of them.
“They’ve certainly improved as players. They are quality young players and quality young people. I’m looking forward to having more involvement with them over the next few years. I’ve got no doubt that both of them will play their part in Warrington colours in the years to come.”
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