Rugby Union / Ralph Ellis / 13 February 2009 / Leave a comment

After being hailed as a statement of Warrington Wolves' ambition, Matt King struggled in his first season in Super League. Could the Australian now be about to prove his critics wrong?

The one thing you learn about big star signings from overseas is they offer no guarantee at all of success. Look through the history of football and for every Ossie Ardiles or Eric Cantona there's a Tino Asprilla or Winston Bogarde. And it's not much different in other sports.

When Matt King joined Warrington Wolves at the start of last Super League season it was hailed as the competition's biggest overseas signing. The Australian winger was on massive money, was a regular for New South Wales and his country, and looked like the man to take Warrington up among the big boys of the competition. His arrival was hailed as a statement of Wolves' new ambition.

As it turned out he was pretty hopeless, scored only two tries in the first half of the season, and Warrington finished sixth some 15 points behind St Helens. There was talk of him being homesick, vague promises he'd improve when the summer came and his girlfriend flew over to join him, but ultimately he was described by former Great Britain captain Garry Schofield as: "the worst overseas recruit in Super League history".

Will this year be any different? It's not unusual for a big foreign signing to make an impact after taking time to settle - think of Didier Drogba's second season at Chelsea. And according to Wolves skipper Adrian Morley, King could be ready to take the competition by storm this time round. Morley has told Martin Richards in this morning's Daily Star: "Matt has trained really well and had a big off season and I think you'll see a massive year from him.

"Some of the things written about him were not very nice and it did affect him. I don't think he played particularly badly but he didn't perform to his own very high standards. I know Matt has the resolve to prove his critics wrong."

Wolves start their own season tonight with a trip to St Helens and if King really is ready to prove his critics wrong they could be good value at [3.55]. St Helens are as short as [1.41] but it's always a mistake to make anybody odds-on in an opening day fixture because you just can't tell how quickly even the best teams will hit their form. That was proved last week when Leeds struggled to put away new boys Celtic Crusaders. It's also a time when the lesser clubs have the advantage of normally having everybody fit and firing before injuries and knocks start to take their toll.

Wolves have beaten St Helens only once in 33 Super League meetings, but Morley claims: "We have made a couple of other exciting signings in Garreth Carvell and Mickey Higham and the mood is good. Now it's down to us to get it right on the park and start stringing some good results together."

At the very least Warrington should be capable of running the game close and Warrington plus 8.5 points at [1.9] looks a value gamble.

Five things you might not know about Matt King

1. Born in Casino, New South Wales in 1980, he played rugby league from the age of 11 - but then got bored with the sport and hung up his boots aged 22

2. He took a job working in a bar - but then got bored with that too and went back to rugby with local club Cronulla. But he didn't get any further than the reserve team

3. He moved to Brisbane North, one of the feeder clubs to Melbourne Storm, and from there is career took off. Within two years he was playing for Australia

4. He got fined 5,000 dollars for telling a supporters meeting that NRL final referee Paul Simpkins was a 'dickhead'

5. His four year deal at Warrington is worth a reputed £1.3million