Life keeps getting better for breakout NSW prop

Jasper Bruce | June 13, 2025

Six weeks ago Max King would never had believed he’d be starting at prop next to Payne Haas in State of Origin II.

But a chat with Blues coach Laurie Daley helped convince the breakout Canterbury prop he belongs on rugby league’s biggest stage.

King was the surprise pick in Daley’s NSW team for game one, but impressed coming on from the bench in a dominant 18-6 defeat of Queensland in Brisbane.

With Mitch Barnett subsequently injured, Daley picked the happy-go-lucky King as Payne Haas’s starting front-row partner for Wednesday’s game two in Perth, where the Blues can seal a series victory.

King has been in career-best form this year for the ladder-leading Bulldogs, who have valid premiership aspirations.

But the rise to the representative arena has been a lot for the 28-year-old to wrap his head around.

“It’s a big thing to get recalled but to get recalled and promoted is even better. It just keeps going up and up for me,” King said ahead of game two.

King would have struggled to believe only a matter of weeks ago if you suggested he’d be a starting Blues prop in 2025, much less when one considers he was thrown a lifeline by the Bulldogs in 2022 after more than 500 days out with an Achilles issue.

“You could have asked me six weeks ago and I wouldn’t have believed it,” he said.

“The first (camp) I’d go back to my room every day and think ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’m here.’ I’d look at my training gear and couldn’t believe I was wearing a Blues shirt. I don’t want to lose that, I don’t want this to be normal.

“I feel so fortunate for everything that’s happened this year, everything that’s happened in clubland.”

But King admits he’s someone who’s historically needed convincing in his own abilities. It’s just in his nature to be humble.

“Growing up, if there was one thing I lacked a bit in my career it probably was confidence, believing that I’m that guy,” he said. 

“It’s probably tied in with my humility.”

Coach Daley gave King the chance to find that confidence within himself when he spoke to the prop ahead of his debut at Suncorp Stadium.

“One thing Laurie did say is just because you’re selected doesn’t mean you’re an Origin player,” King said.

“What you do with that selection defines whether you’re an Origin player.

“(Origin I) was a test for me and it was to prove to a lot of people, but it was to prove it to myself that I am an Origin player and I do belong there.”

It’s why King is now feeling up to the task of taking it to Queensland’s pack, who will be smarting from a Blues masterclass in game one.

“Starting the game is fantastic and a great experience for me because we’ll see the best Queensland side we’ve seen all series especially in that first 20 minutes,” he said.

“It’s another chance to prove to myself that I belong here. Baptism by fire I guess, going straight into the belly of the beast.”