As many as five senior front-rowers in Newcastle’s 2017 squad are unlikely to be back next year, and at this stage only one replacement has been signed.

Sam Mataora recently announced a surprise retirement, Josh Starling (back) and Anthony Tupou (hip) are both off-contract and facing major surgery, Mickey Paea is heading to England and Jack Stockwell appears out of favour, having not played in the NRL since the round-11 loss to Penrith.

In their absence, 22-year-old King has grabbed his opportunity, stringing together six consecutive games in the starting side.

Along with the Saifiti twins, Daniel and Jacob, and Brisbane recruit Herman Ese’ese, he shapes as a long-term fixture in Newcastle’s front-row rotation.

Knights coach Nathan Brown hopes to import some seasoned middle forwards before next season starts and King felt that would benefit his game.

“Especially getting a more experienced player, someone who has been around the game, just to teach us the trade,’’ he said.

“Those little things that you only learn from playing 100, 200 first-grade games, I think that’s what we really need around here and that would be a good addition to the squad.’’

One prop in whom Newcastle did express interest, Manly’s Brenton Lawrence, is reported to have signed with Gold Coast.

It is understood the Knights were reluctant to offer the 32-year-old anything beyond a one-year deal but the Titans were willing to provide a longer tenure.

For Lawrence, it is something of a homecoming. The Mackay product started his career with the Titans and played in 18 NRL games between 2011 and 2012.

Another proven front-rower on the market, Brisbane and New Zealand enforcer Adam Blair, is reported to be negotiating with St George Illawarra.

King, who debuted for Newcastle last season, has now played in 22 NRL games and is starting to feel he belongs in the top grade.   

“So far I’ve been happy with how I’ve been going and how I’ve been developing,’’ he said.

“This time last year, I’m miles in front of where I was then.

“I’ve just got to keep ticking away and getting the job done …you’ve just got to come back down to earth and realise that we’re only 21 or 22 years of age and we’ve still got hopefully a long career ahead of us, and take time to develop.”

King said last week’s 21-14 win against the Dragons was a great confidence booster for the team but they had re-focused for Saturday’s clash with the enigmatic Warriors at McDonald Jones Stadium.

“Even with Shaun Johnson out, one of their big names, they’ve still got a solid pack there and quite a sizeable pack … it’s a big test for us this weekend,’’ King said.