Phil Gould has revealed the emotional moment he rang Max King to congratulate him on his State of Origin debut, capping off one of rugby league’s most inspiring journeys.
King, who has battled through a rare heart condition and a debilitating foot deformity, has been named in the New South Wales squad for the 2025 Origin opener, a staggering rise that left the Canterbury Bulldogs general manager visibly moved.
“The first words I said to him were, ‘I’ve got a tear in my eye’,” Gould said on Nine’s 100% Footy on Monday night.
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From training in secret to leading the pack
Gould recalled how King was the very first player he signed upon taking over as Bulldogs GM in 2021, while the prop was still recovering from a career-threatening injury sustained at Melbourne Storm.
“I actually got a note from a fella he was working with at Newcastle and they were training up there and his manager rang and I said ‘if we can get him right we’ll bring him down and put him on contract’,” he said.
With strict COVID restrictions in place, King and his father would secretly make the drive from Newcastle to Belmore. Gould vividly remembers one particular moment that showed him the young prop’s hunger to return.
“I was leaving Belmore one day, it was around Christmas time in 2021, and I noticed there was a player out on the field… it was Max King, and it was his first run on grass for a long time. He got to the end of the field, and I beeped the horn and gave him a thumbs up.”
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'Played the whole season with a terrible sternum injury'
Despite the Bulldogs’ dire 2023 campaign, in which they finished 15th, King quietly pushed through a brutal season of his own.
“He played the whole season with a terrible sternum injury, he lost a lot of weight, he couldn’t do weights week to week, he backed up every week, he played with injury every week,” Gould revealed.
“That was the character stuff — we knew we had a winner and a leader in the club. He’s a fit and healthy young man, he’s earned his spot and he’ll do very good.”
King played 23 matches that year, and now, in 2025, he’s not just recovered, he’s wearing the sky blue of New South Wales.