St Kilda’s star spearhead Max King is in danger of missing round one – and potentially longer – after having surgery on his right knee on Thursday morning.
Scans this month ruled out a second ACL rupture on that knee after a training incident, but King went under the knife for an exploratory arthroscope after continuing to deal with pain as he tried to ramp up his preparation.
Saints forward Max King has had surgery on his knee.Credit: Getty Images
The 24-year-old, who has kicked 159 goals in 83 career matches since being the No.4 pick in the much-hyped 2018 draft, played only 12 games last season after hurting the posterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
“We explored a number of non-surgical options to eliminate Max’s pain, with varying but ultimately not long-lasting success,” St Kilda football boss David Misson said.
“The procedure went well, so now we’ll give Max some time to recuperate and establish a more definite return-to-play timeline from there. That being said, we don’t believe this will cause major delays to Max’s 2025 campaign, and he’ll remain touch and go for round one.”
The Saints are travelling to Adelaide Oval to face the Crows in their season-opener on March 16, and will tune up for that contest with a pre-season hitout against Port Adelaide on Saturday.
Ruck-forward Rowan Marshall (pelvis) and dual club champion and All-Australian defender Jack Sinclair (hamstring) won’t be ready to face the Power, but St Kilda are optimistic they will be fit to play Adelaide.
King inked a six-year extension in October to tie him to the club until the end of 2032, so the Saints have invested heavily in him despite his extensive injury history, including a shoulder reconstruction in late 2022.
The 202-centimetre key forward kicked a career-high 52 goals before his shoulder setback that year, in a sign of what he is capable of when he can play close to a full season.
Mitch Owens and Anthony Caminiti will be relied upon to step up as focal points if King’s absence lingers, particularly given Tim Membrey signed with Collingwood in the off-season.
Small forward Jack Higgins was St Kilda’s leading goalkicker last year with 36.
Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter.
