Wakefield vs Warrington: George King's inside information could give Trinity edge
Watch Wakefield vs Warrington live on Sky Sports Arena from 7pm on Thursday
Last Updated: 21/03/19 10:20pm
Wakefield forward George King has been passing on inside information on his old club as he prepares to face Warrington and brother Toby for the first time, live on Sky Sports.
The 24-year-old spent five years playing alongside his 22-year-old sibling for the Wolves, appearing together in both the Challenge Cup final and Grand Final in 2018, before George went his own way by joining Trinity on a two-year deal.
The brothers will go head to head for the first time since their academy days when Chris Chester's fifth-placed Wakefield take on Warrington, who are second, at the Mobile Rocket Stadium on Thursday night.
"It was certainly the one on the calendar I was looking forward to," George said.
"It's going to be strange but I'm going to keep as much pressure on as possible so I can have my best possible game and at the end of it we'll have a laugh and a joke. Hopefully, it's on them.
"I know what the threats are, I know what each player's attributes are and I'm not going to lie, of course, I've told Chris Chester everything I possibly can about Warrington and what they can throw at us.
"You are always trying to get that one per cent advantage."
George made 80 Super League appearances for the Wolves after following Toby to the Halliwell Jones Stadium in 2014.
But 68 of them were from the bench and he has started three of his five matches so far for Trinity, who can move to within two points of their visitors with victory on Thursday.
"Warrington offered me another two years but I made my mind up halfway through the year that it was time for a change," George explained.
"Toby totally understood. I wouldn't say it went stale for me there, it just came to a point where I needed a new environment and a new drive.
"At Wakefield, the one thing I noticed straight away is that everyone is on the same wavelength. The coaching staff are great and all the players were really welcoming. That's what makes being at Wakefield so special."
It will also be special when the two brothers meet for the first time at professional level, although there was an uncomfortable moment in the build-up to the game.
"It's been a bit of an awkward week to be fair," George said. "Toby came round for tea last night and we didn't talk much about the game.
"It was a case of trying to stay professional as much as possible and get on with it.
"I played against him a couple of times at academy level, when I was at Huddersfield and he was at Warrington, but this will be the first time we've played against each other as professionals.
"I think it will be strange but because I play in the middle and he plays out wide, we probably won't see much of each other in the game."
Team news
Wakefield have brought Max Jowitt and Jordan Baldwinson into their 19-man squad for the first time this season, whilst Keegan Hirst is in contention. Tom Johnstone, Bill Tupou and Danny Kirmond are the three players dropping out.
Warrington will be without Ben Westwood after the forward was handed a four-match ban for the head butt that earned him a red card during his side's 25-12 win over Wigan.
Westwood is replaced by Harvey Livett in the one change by Steve Price to the Warrington squad that beat Wigan last Friday.
Wakefield 19-man squad: Tinirau Arona, Joe Arundel, Matty Ashurst, Jordan Baldwinson, Danny Brough, Jordan Crowther, Anthony England, David Fifita, Ryan Hampshire, Keegan Hirst, Justin Horo, Ben Jones-Bishop, Max Jowitt, George King, Craig Kopczak, Reece Lyne, Jacob Miller, Pauli Pauli, Kyle Wood.
Warrington 19-man squad: Ryan Atkins, Blake Austin, Josh Charnley, Daryl Clark, Jason Clark, Mike Cooper, Ben Currie, Chris Hill, Jack Hughes, Toby King, Tom Lineham, Harvey Livett, Jake Mamo, Ben Murdoch-Masila, Declan Patton, Joe Philbin, Stefan Ratchford, Lama Tasi, Danny Walker.