Josh King (born 2 December 1995) is an Australian professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays as a for the Melbourne Storm in the National Rugby League (NRL). King previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL as a .

Background

King was born in

Maitland, New South Wales Maitland () is a city in the Lower Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia and the seat of Maitland City Council, situated on the Hunter River approximately by road north of Sydney and north-west of Newcastle. It is on the New England Hi ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. He was educated at Singleton High School. King played his junior rugby league for the

Singleton Greyhounds Group 21 Rugby League is a local rugby league competition, run under the control of the Country Rugby League. It covers the Upper Hunter area of New South Wales, and has three divisions, first grade, reserves and Under 18s. For sponsorship reaso ...

as well as junior representatives for the Newcastle Knights.

Playing career

Early career

In 2014 and 2015, King played for the Newcastle Knights' NRL Under-20s team, before graduating to their NSW Cup team late in 2015.

Newcastle Knights – 2016–2021

In round 7 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...

, King made his

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

debut for Newcastle against the Brisbane Broncos. King juggled his playing and training commitments with an apprenticeship as an electrician, working in a coal mine near Singleton. He would complete his apprenticeship during his time at the Knights. On 28 July, he extended his contract with Newcastle until the end of 2018. He finished his debut season with 12 appearances as the club finished last on the table and claimed the Wooden Spoon. In 2017, King was unable to break into the Knights'

side for the first 8 rounds, but went on to play 15 NRL matches for the season as the club finished bottom of the table for a third straight year. In March 2018, King re-signed with the Knights on a two-year contract until the end of 2020. King played 13 games for Newcastle in the

2019 NRL season The 2019 NRL season was the 112th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 22nd season run by the National Rugby League. The Sydney Roosters became the first team to win back-to-back Premierships since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992 ...

as the club missed the finals finishing in 11th place on the table. In August, after playing over 70 games for the Knights, King signed a 2-year contract with the Melbourne Storm starting in 2022.

Melbourne Storm – 2022–present

In round 1 of the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...

, King made his club debut for the Melbourne Storm against Wests Tigers which ended in a win at Bankwest Stadium. He had his club debut jersey (cap number 219) presented to him by former Melbourne Storm player

Robbie Kearns Robbie Kearns (born 12 December 1971) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, and 2000s. An Australia international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played for the Cro ...

. King would be the only Melbourne Storm player to play every game in 2022, celebrating his 100th NRL game in round 23. He also made his senior representative debut when he was selected for the Australian

Prime Minister's XIII Prime Minister's XIII, or sometimes informally referred to as the PM's XIII, is the name of a representative rugby league team, comprising Australian players from National Rugby League clubs that did not qualify for the NRL Finals, or whose tea ...

against the Papua New Guinea Prime Minister's XIII in September. A hard-working forward, King transformed from a bench player playing limited minutes into an almost 80-minute player at Melbourne, missing only one match during the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season is the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams For the 2023 season, the number of teams in the NRL has increased from sixteen to seventeen with the ...

only when ordered to take a week off by coach Craig Bellamy. King would be acting captain for the Storm during their round 27 match against the Brisbane Broncos, playing his 50th match for the club during the 2023 NRL finals series. King played in Melbourne's 2023 preliminary final loss against Penrith.

Statistics

*stats correct as of the end of the 2023 season

References

External links

Melbourne Storm profileNewcastle Knights profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Josh 1995 births Living people Australian rugby league players Melbourne Storm players New South Wales Residents rugby league team players Newcastle Knights players Prime Minister's XIII players Rugby league props Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Maitland, New South Wales