Warrington star’s pledge LONG LIVE THE KING

RUGBY LEAGUE Lineham: Toby could be world-class ...so my mucking about has to STOP

TOM LINEHAM has vowed to tame his wild side so that team-mate Toby King can become a superstar. Warrington Wolves’ livewire duo

click on and off the pitch.

But Lineham admits that their close friendship sometimes lands them in trouble.

Coach Steve Price doesn’t always see the funny side of the pair’s jokes in training – and he has warned them that it’s got to stop.

England Knights winger Lineham (right) says that he’s determined to toe the line – because he is convinced that his younger colleague King (left) is good enough to become a world-class player.

Lineham said: “I am taking responsibility for this myself as I don’t want to be that bad influence on Toby, because of the sort of great player that he’s going to be.

Giddy

“I sometimes get a bit giddy and distracted in training and Steve has been on to me about my concentration.

“He’s advised me to clock-in and clock-out.

“He’s told me that I can mess about afterwards, as long as I am concentrating while I’m training.”

The 27-yearold’s new and mature approach to his training has been such a huge transformation that it even had some of his Wolves team-mates worried about his wellbeing.

Lineham recalled:

“Players asked if I was alright because I wasn’t the same. But once I explained the situation they were pretty sweet with it.”

King, 24, who toured Papua New Guinea with Lineham and the Knights in 2018, insists his pal shouldn’t cop all the blame for their old antics.

King said: “Steve is always getting in to me because sometimes I can be away with the fairies.

“I’m a happy-go-lucky guy, particularly when Tom is around because he will distract you with things.

“But Steve is smart and knows exactly what players are like. He’s just trying to make sure we concentrate.”

The partnership was on fire before lockdown and Price is confident they will come out firing again when the season restarts next month.

Control

The Wolves chief said: “They are always in each other’s pockets but I have got them in control and they are doing fine.

“They were doing some really good things before the Covid lockdown and I hope that they will continue it.

“They worked really hard on their systems in pre-season.”

Last year’s Challenge Cup winners lie fourth with eight points after three defeats in their opening seven games. But Price insisted: “I thought it was a really positive start.

“I could see the progress in the changes we are trying to implement. We were starting to find our groove and moment.”