BEFORE the action between Warrington Wolves and Leigh Leopards got started on Saturday night, it was time to celebrate the man of the moment.

The pre-season friendly match at The Halliwell Jones Stadium was a Testimonial to celebrate Toby King's decade as a first-team player, the majority of which has been spent with The Wire having emerged through the club's academy.

And with the strains of Motorhead's "King of Kings" echoing around the arena, the centre took the acclaim from the crowd of nearly 7,000 in attendance as he strode through the pre-match guard of honour.

Toby King salutes the crowd before kick-off (Image: Neil Ashurst/P&B Pictures) While his fellow front-line first-team stars had their minutes managed, King stayed on the field for the majority of the game before being substituted to a standing ovation in the final stages.

King acknowledges the fans after being taken off (Image: Neil Ashurst/P&B Pictures) He will have no doubt wanted to mark the occasion with a victory, but Leigh's late burst of three tries in six minutes late on allowed them to seal a 20-12 win on the night.

Despite that, however, King expressed his delight with how things went and paid tribute to both sets of supporters for making it a memorable night for him.

"It was unbelievable – the crowd packed it out and made it a right atmosphere," he said.

"A special thank you to all the Warrington fans and the Leigh fans, Derek Beaumont, Chris Chester (Leigh owner and director of rugby) – they put on a massive show by bringing so many Leigh fans here.

"There were goosebumps coming out – even for the warm-up, they were in early. It was mega really, so thank you so much.

"Walking out in that guard of honour was a surreal moment."