Updated ,first published
In today’s AFL Briefing, your wrap of footy news:
- Max King suffered a season-ending hamstring strain on Sunday.
- Brisbane’s Ty Gallop will face a serious misconduct charge.
Max King will not play again until at least next year after St Kilda confirmed the injury-prone spearhead suffered a season-ending left hamstring strain in his return game on Sunday.
It is a devastating blow for the Saints and King, who had not played at AFL level for 757 days before this latest setback, and has now suffered hamstring injuries twice this year, including in a VFL game in May.
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon defended the club’s decision to play King in the senior side and bypass the VFL this time, but the star forward will now have played just once in three seasons after a torturous run that includes injuries to both knees and calf issues.
King left Sunday’s 31-point win over North Melbourne midway through the third quarter and did not return.
He started each term on the bench and played in six-minute stints, but managed just one kick and one handball while playing at different times on Charlie Comben and Aidan Corr.
“It’s an incredibly disappointing outcome for Max, who has done everything possible throughout his rehabilitation to put himself in the best position to return,” St Kilda football boss Lenny Hayes said.
“He’s an incredibly important part of our football club. We’ll continue to wrap our arms around him and provide all the support he needs as he works through this latest setback.
“Our focus now turns to ensuring Max undertakes a full pre-season to allow him to get back and play consistent senior football in 2027.”
King signed a six-year contract extension in October 2024 that ties him to the Saints until the end of the 2032 season.
His horror injury run started about three months before he inked that deal, when he sustained a season-ending posterior cruciate ligament tear in his left knee in a two-point loss to Port Adelaide.
King also hurt his right knee in a pre-season game mere months later that ultimately required three separate surgeries and wiped out his 2025 season. After a delayed start to the past off-season, a new calf problem sidelined him again.
King made it back from that setback, only to suffer a hamstring strain in his second VFL game in May.
The 26-year-old went into an extended rehabilitation period after that, including spending time on the Gold Coast with his twin, Suns focal point Ben, who is expected to sign as a restricted free agent with Hawthorn.
Lyon said St Kilda’s high-performance team was satisfied that King had proven he was ready with a significant volume of running, including at high speeds and game-like intensity.
“We stand by our decision to play him,” Lyon said on Sunday.
“We have high-performance experts, we have [training] load, we have conditioning. We’re really quite confident … it was very considered, very worked out, and I’m happy for it to sit with me and our team because we collaborate.”
There are still six seasons left on King’s deal, and he will be desperate to repay the Saints’ faith in him to avoid becoming the poster child for how long-term contracts can go wrong.
He has played only 84 games since being the No.4 pick in the 2018 AFL draft, but displayed his immense potential in a career-best 52-goal season in 2022.
St Kilda are clinging to a wildcard berth with a month to go in the home-and-away season, with matches to come against Sydney, Carlton, Richmond and Gold Coast, all of which will be played in Melbourne.
The Saints made a splash in last year’s player movement period, recruiting Tom De Koning, Jack Silvagni, Sam Flanders and Liam Ryan, after making Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera the league’s first $2 million-a-season man.
They also caused a stir when they withdrew their interest in Giant Leek Aleer.
St Kilda’s big spending has so far delivered only a mediocre return, worsened by Flanders suffering a season-ending Achilles injury. De Koning also missed games with broken ribs and a punctured lung, but demonstrated what he could bring in a strong performance against the Roos on Sunday.
Lion straight to tribunal on misconduct charge
Brisbane youngster Ty Gallop has been sent straight to the AFL tribunal for shoving Port Adelaide’s Mitch Georgiades’ head into the turf.
Gallop has been charged with serious misconduct for the incident in the second quarter of Brisbane’s win over Port at the Gabba on Sunday.
The 20-year-old rolled Georgiades in a heavy tackle but has come under scrutiny for his actions off the ball immediately after.
As the Lions swept downfield, Gallop lifted Georgiades by the jumper before slamming him back into the turf head first.
Depending on how the tribunal sees the incident, Gallop could face multiple weeks on the sidelines.
“It wasn’t a great look, but I’m on the other side of it,” Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr said.
“They’re a team that plays tough and pushes the limits. We got the free kick, so we got rewarded. There’s not much more to say.”
Carr said Georgiades was unaffected by the incident after the game.
Gallop’s choice to hit out at Georgiades was described as “a stupid action” by former Brisbane great Alastair Lynch.
“We’ve been singing the praises of Ty Gallop over the last half a dozen weeks particularly,” Lynch said on Fox Footy.
“But that’s just a stupid action. We don’t want to see that. Mitch has had some problems with concussion.
“We don’t want to see actions like that.”
AAP and Scott Spits
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