FEW players have made a bigger impression at Huddersfield Rugby League Club than Australian prop forward Dave King.

On the field, King was an imposing figure, standing 6ft 4in tall, while off it he quickly carved out a reputation as the classic gentle giant.

In two spells with the club - he spent a season playing in Super League with Warrington - he made 153 appearances.

During that time he played in some notable Fartown matches, but two stand head and shoulders above the rest.

One was the Divisional Premiership final at Old Trafford in 1997 when the newly-named Giants beat Hull 18-0.

The other was the Challenge Cup six-round tie against Keighley at Cougar Park two years earlier.

It may not have been as high profile as the Premiership final or had the same historic significance - beating Hull proved to be the Giants' passport into Super League.

But to King it was just as memorable.

In the previous round, Huddersfield had pulled off a major shock by defeating top-flight Halifax 36-30 in front of a bumper McAlpine crowd of 9,348.

That set the scene perfectly for the match between two clubs who had become major rivals.

"At that time, Keighley and ourselves were regarded as the `big two' outside rugby league's top division," recalled King.

"In very little time we had become fierce rivals, and matches between the two clubs were always extra special.

"Keighley had a team full of players who could easily have played in the top division at the time, such as Darren Fleary (now Giants captain), Daryl Powell (former Leeds Rhinos coach), Simon Irving, Phil Cantillon and Nick Pinkney.

"That made the Cougars slight favourites going into the game, although it was expected to be a very close encounter.

"But on the day, it was a different story.

"It was the most complete Huddersfield performance I had ever been a part of. We dominated in every department and the final scoreline of 30-0 reflected our domination.

"The atmosphere was fantastic, with a full house of 5,700, and our display was even better.

"Unfortunately, we went on to lose 23-12 at Oldham in the quarter-final, which was disappointing. But it still couldn't take the gloss off a fantastic win at Keighley."