Dual North Melbourne premiership player David King believes an “honest and brutal” discussion is nearing between the club and champion Ben Cunnington after the midfielder was subbed out for the second time in five games.
Cunnington, 31, was subbed out ahead of the final quarter during Sunday’s loss to St Kilda at Marvel Stadium after registering just seven disposals and one clearance.
It was a similar scenario to the one that occurred on Good Friday against Carlton earlier this year, with the two-time best and fairest winner taken out of the game by Alastair Clarkson in the second half.
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How can Carlton fix their form? | 02:40
“I know it’s a discussion for down the track, but we talked about this upstairs, so I think we should do it on-air: Ben Cunnington just doesn’t look like the player that he has been for a decade,” King told Fox Footy’s First Crack on Sunday night.
“I know age gets to everyone, he just looks like he can’t travel at the moment and he actually has gotten to a point where he can’t impact clearances. If he’s lost that and can’t travel, he’s in real trouble right now.”
Cunnington debuted in 2010 after being taken with pick No.5 in the 2009 draft, with King full of praise for the midfielder’s AFL journey.
“We love Ben Cunnington – he’s a hall of famer for the North Melbourne Football Club and I’ve got unbelievable admiration for where he’s been recently with his health battles to get back to AFL footy – but there’s a discussion to be had there at the moment,” he said.
“It’s probably going to be an honest and brutal discussion, ‘hey, you need to lift or we have to go past you’, because that’s footy and that’s footy at a club that’s really struggling.
“I’m not going after him, we love him, but this is the reality of performance.”
North Melbourne Roos Press Conference | 11:34
As in the Carlton loss, Clarkson was on Sunday asked about the decision to sub Cunnington out of the match.
“Like any other player, he needs to perform in the role that he’s got,” Clarkson said.
“His role in the side is to be a clearance beast and strong around the contest and he wasn’t providing that for us in the game today unfortunately.”
When asked if Cunnington’s spot in the team was vulnerable, Clarkson said: “We’ll wait and see how that all pans out throughout the week … he’s got a fair few pennies in the piggy bank. He’s been a ripper for our footy club, he’s a proud man, he’d be disappointed he didn’t perform well today, but I’m sure he’ll bounce back strongly.”
Cunnington’s return to the game at the end of 2022 after a battle with testicular cancer has been widely admired by the football world.
He has played 237 games for the Kangaroos and, as well as winning the best and fairest award twice, has finished as a runner-up four times.
