Max King (footballer)
Max King | |||
---|---|---|---|
Personal information | |||
Full name | Max King | ||
Date of birth | 7 July 2000 | ||
Place of birth |
Melbourne, Victoria | ||
Original team(s) |
TAC Cup ) | ||
Draft | No. 4, 2018 national draft | ||
Height | 202 cm (6 ft 8 in) | ||
Weight | 94 kg (207 lb) | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Club information | |||
Current club | St Kilda | ||
Number | 12 | ||
Playing career1 | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
2019– | St Kilda | 72 (142) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 1, 2024. | |||
Career highlights | |||
| |||
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com |
Max King (born 7 July 2000) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Early life
King and his twin brother
AFL career
King was drafted by St Kilda with their first selection which was the fourth overall in the 2018 national draft.[6] Twin brother Ben was also drafted that year, by the Gold Coast Suns with six.[7] The King brothers were the first twins to both be drafted in the top 10.[2]
2019 season
King underwent a knee reconstruction after rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament early in his draft year, an injury he was still recovering from when drafted.[8] King returned to the field for the Sandringham Zebras in the VFL in May 2019, playing 3 quarters and kicking 1 goal.[9] In June, King sustained a right ankle injury while playing for Sandringham which prevented him from making his AFL debut in 2019.[10][11] Overall, King played five VFL games and kicked 11 goals.
2020 season
King made his AFL debut in St Kilda's round one match against
2021 season
A golfing incident saw King miss round one with a concussion injury,[14] but he returned to the side in Round 2 and kicked 2 goals against Melbourne. King then had a mixed to poor run of form in front of goal, kicking 11.21 (punctuated by a 5.2 effort against West Coast) including a disastrous 1.5 against Geelong in Round nine where he also had 10 marks. Public and media scrutiny of King was intense as a result,[15][16] which included a St Kilda refusal to allow AFL great Matthew Lloyd (his high school football mentor) to provide some coaching and technique advice to King.[17] Max faced his brother for just the second time in Round eight, again at Carrara Stadium, with Max kicking 1.2 and having 13 disposals and five marks, while Ben kicked 3.1 from nine disposals and three marks; the Saints ultimately came from behind to win by nine points.
However, King recovered from the poor form in the first half of the season to have a sensational second half. Following the Saints' bye in Round 14, King kicked 20.7. He had a career-best game in Round 19 against West Coast in Perth, kicking six goals and taking nine marks including eight contested inside 50 (a league record).[18] King also kicked four goals straight the following weekend against Carlton. King (who had kicked 4 goals) suffered a groin injury against Sydney in Round 21 and was unable to complete the match. He was able to play the following week against Geelong, and kicked two goals in the first quarter before reaggravating the injury. King eventually returned to the field but was unable to play out the match. With the Saints out of the finals, King subsequently sat out the final game of the season. So impressive was King's form in the second half of the year that he was selected in the 40-man preliminary 22under22 squad.[19] King also finished ninth in the Trevor Barker Award and earned the Best Emerging Player Award at the annual Best and Fairest.[20]
Statistics
- Statistics correct to the end of round 1, 2024[21]
G
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Goals
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K
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Kicks | D
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Disposals | T
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Tackles |
B
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Behinds
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H
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Handballs | M
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Marks
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Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
2020[a] | St Kilda | 12 | 18 | 22 | 20 | 84 | 53 | 137 | 57 | 22 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 4.7 | 2.9 | 7.6 | 3.2 | 1.2 | 0 |
2021 | St Kilda | 12 | 20 | 38 | 30 | 126 | 67 | 193 | 90 | 16 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 6.3 | 3.4 | 9.7 | 4.5 | 0.8 | 3 |
2022 | St Kilda | 12 | 22 | 52 | 41 | 172 | 61 | 233 | 115 | 16 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 7.8 | 2.6 | 10.6 | 5.2 | 0.7 | 6 |
2023 | St Kilda | 12 | 11 | 28 | 12 | 73 | 30 | 103 | 48 | 10 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 6.7 | 2.7 | 9.4 | 4.4 | 0.9 | 5 |
2024 | St Kilda | 12 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 4 | 17 | 8 | 1 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 13.0 | 4.0 | 17.0 | 8.0 | 1.0 | TBC |
Career | 72 | 142 | 107 | 468 | 215 | 683 | 318 | 65 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 6.5 | 3.0 | 9.5 | 4.4 | 0.9 | 14 |
- ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
- ^ a b c "Q&A with the Kings: Backyard headlocks, trash talk rules, swapping classes at school". afl.com.au. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Haileybury AFL Draft Success - Haileybury". www.haileybury.com.au. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ a b c "Max King a Saint". saints.com.au. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
- ^ "Top Draft Prospect Max King Stretchered Off During School Footy Game". Triple M. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ "The AFL draftees who nailed Year 12 VCE studies while also getting drafted in 2018". Fox Sports. 18 December 2018. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ "The Saints have pounced on "special talent" Max King with pick 4 in the NAB AFL Draft". 22 November 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ "Why Matthew Lloyd has a massive opinion of Max King". 13 February 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
- ^ "The Saints have pounced on "special talent" Max King with pick 4 in the NAB AFL Draft". 22 November 2018. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
- ^ "AFL 2019: Top St Kilda draft pick Max King plays his first VFL game after ACL injury in draft year". Fox Sports. 12 May 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
- ^ "Injury update: Max King". saints.com.au. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
- ^ Nice, Chris (19 March 2020). "King's landing: Max to debut on Sunday". saints.com.au. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
- ^ Nice, Chris (19 March 2020). "King's landing: Max to debut on Sunday". saints.com.au. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
- ^ Beveridge, Riley (18 August 2020). "The King rises: Max follows twin brother to earn Rising Star nomination". afl.com.au. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
- ^ "St Kilda's Max King to miss round one with concussion after golfing mishap". www.abc.net.au. 14 March 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ Pierik, Jon (26 July 2021). "King for a day: Saint Max sets a marking record". The Age. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ "Unfair truth behind scrutinised Saint; Bucks' 'worst comment as coach': AFL Rd 12 Talking Pts". Fox Sports. 7 June 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ "Why St Kilda knocked back a goalkicking session between Max King and Matthew Lloyd". www.sen.com.au. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ Pierik, Jon (26 July 2021). "King for a day: Saint Max sets a marking record". The Age. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ "King selected in AFLPA 22Under22 squad". saints.com.au. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- ^ "Steele joins elite company with back-to-back Trevor Barker Awards". saints.com.au. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ "Max King". AFLTables. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
External links
- Max King's profile on the official website of the St Kilda Football Club