At a press conference in England on Thursday, held by his new British Super League club Salford, the Kiwi fullback took aim at his former club and said it was responsible for his falling out of love with the game.

Locke was released early from the final year of his contract with the Warriors.

His departure was accelerated because of an argument between Locke and Warriors coach Andrew McFadden over the Kiwi star not turning up to training.

McFadden wants to bring a new culture to the Warriors, one where players are fully committed to the cause, and it's one that Locke didn't buy in to.

But now ensconced in England, Locke decided to take a shot at the Warriors.

''It's a fresh start for me,'' he said of his move to Salford.

''I was starting to dislike rugby league just because of the way the Warriors were treating me, but now I've started to love it again."

Locke said he was unhappy that McFadden tried to force him to play in positions on the field that he didn't enjoy.

''It was more the fact that the coach was trying to put me in there at hooker or where they could slot me in,'' Locke said.

''I just couldn't adapt to that, so I really forced it upon them to try to get me over here.

''The media hyped a lot of it up back home but it has been hard.''

Locke wasn't able to get a deal with any other NRL club once it was clear the Warriors wanted to go with Sam Tomkins as their preferred fullback.

He managed to pick up a lucrative three-and-a-half-year deal with Salford, but he said he also had offers from two Celtic League clubs to switch codes.

''I got a few union offers in Scotland around the same time as here,'' Locke said.

''From Edinburgh and Glasgow, but I wanted to stay in league. I didn't want to switch.''

Meanwhile, David Kidwell was announced as the new Kiwis assistant coach on Friday.