The Bulls can blame one of their own for the prospect of facing giant Warrington winger Matt King.

After an indifferent start to Super League life, the former Aussie Test star is now recreating his best form – but he might have been collecting bins instead if it hadn’t been for Matt Orford.

Back in 2002, after becoming disillusioned with rugby, King had seriously considered jacking it all in and worked as a binman to make ends meet.

Needing to escape Sydney, he put in a chance call to Orford, then at Melbourne Storm, and the Bulls scrum half helped him get back on his feet.

“I lived with him while I was having my little mid-life crisis,” said King, who struck up a strong friendship with Orford while the pair were juniors with North Sydney Bears.

“I wanted to leave Sydney and couldn’t go to Brisbane so I ended up in Melbourne and Ox was good enough to put me up in his house.

“At the time, I didn’t even have enough money for petrol for my old banger so I went down to the local St Vinnie’s and got myself a pushie (push bike). It didn’t even have any tyres but I rode round on that for a while.

“I was really grateful to Ox for helping me out. We’d been friends since we’d played together at Norths but lost touch a little bit.

“When I arrived in Melbourne I rang him out of the blue and I bet that was a phone call he wasn’t expecting to hear!”

Eventually, King rediscovered his passion for the game and, after spells with Cronulla Sharks and Queensland Cup side Brisbane Norths, he was lining up alongside his good friend at Melbourne.

“Lo and behold, 12 months later, we were playing together for the Storm,” said King, who joined Wolves in 2008.

“We had three good years together before he left to go back to Manly. Those few years in Melbourne, he did so much for the team and the team revolved around him.

“But we never saw much of him outside of footy because I don’t think he ever left his house!”

Fast-forward seven years and King is one of the form three-quarters in Super League.

At 6ft 4ins and almost 16 stone, the powerful ex- Aussie Test star takes some stopping – his four tries and league-leading 25 tackle busts provide evidence of that.

But he knows the Bulls’ little general will be just waiting for an opportunity to cut him down to size.

The pair have not come face-to-face since the 2007 NRL Grand Final – when King’s Melbourne defeated Orford’s Manly – so both will be looking to make up for lost time.

King said: “I’ve not actually seen him in person since the Grand Final so it’ll be great to see the little fella again.

“We’ve got the kind of friendship where we won’t see each other for a while but when we do, we pick up exactly where we left off.

“What makes him special is his competitiveness and will to succeed. He talks a lot on the field but I got so much more out of what he does.

“He’ll never back down from a challenge, which is why he loves to defend right in the middle and lines up against the big back-rowers game after game.

“He’s got a massive case of little man syndrome. If you tell him he can’t jump a six-foot fence, the next thing you know, he’ll be out there trying to prove you wrong.”