The Saints haven’t given up hope of a King return in opening round – and a celebrity appearance

1 month ago 4

In today’s AFL Briefing, your daily wrap of footy news:

Could it be ‘King out, Sheeran in’ for Saints opening round blockbuster?
Brownlow medallist Rowell ruled out of Cats clash.

One of St Kilda’s greatest champions says his heart bleeds for Max King, as the Saints forward’s career continues to be derailed by injury.

King, 25, did not play a game last year because of knee issues and last played a senior match in round 16, 2024. He was restricted to only 12 in that season, and 11 the season before.

The luckless forward had knee surgery before Christmas, and is now battling a low-grade calf issue, leaving him in doubt for his club’s season opener next month against Collingwood, where the Saints are likely to field a team stacked with big-name recruits – including Tom de Koning, Jack Silvagni, Sam Flanders and Liam Ryan.

Adding to the excitement those new Saints will generate, Channel Seven revealed on Tuesday there was a chance one of the club’s highest profile supporters, British pop star Ed Sheeran, would sing at the game. Sheeran is performing three sold-out shows at Marvel Stadium a week before the match.

Club bosses hope the Sunday-night opening round clash between St Kilda and Collingwood at the MCG on March 8 will be a blockbuster, and it was Seven’s head of AFL Gary O’Keeffe who broached the possibility of a Sheeran performance.

Ed Sheeran is bound for Melbourne and, perhaps, a performance at St Kilda’s season opener.

But the pop star, like King, is not yet locked in for the game.

Former Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt has sympathy for the frustration King – his blue-chip successor in front of goal – must be feeling.

“Obviously, I have a really keen eye on Max. My heart has just ached for him over the last couple of years,” Riewoldt, now a prominent commentator, said at Seven’s AFL season launch on Tuesday.

“I played my entire career with a compromised knee, so I understand the struggle. I just hope it’s go-time for him, and he gets that level of continuity that he needs because it’s really hard to become the player you want to be without continuity. I hope he gets that this year.”

King had surgery in mid-2025 to repair damage to the medial ligament in his right knee, which had been an issue since late in the pre-season. The Saints re-signed King to a six-year deal in 2024, extending him to 2032.

“I have got my fingers crossed for him,” Riewoldt said.

King booted a career-high 52 goals in 2022, and remains a central piece of what the Saints hope will be a breakthrough premiership team over the next five years.

Riewoldt is a fan of the club’s bold recruiting spree.

“I love how aggressive they have been. They have been to draft, they have recruited. The only other tool at their disposal is to use the salary cap of which they had plenty of space. So to be aggressive and get out there and reshape the market, I love it,” he said.

A member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame, Riewoldt is confident De Koning will deliver in the ruck after signing a whopping eight-year, $12 million deal.

De Koning will face major scrutiny should he struggle, but Riewoldt says the new ruck rules encouraging the big men to again leap at centre ball-ups will help him.

“What happens if he plays below expectations? I think any time a player plays below expectation, regardless of what they are getting paid, they come under scrutiny,” Riewoldt said.

“This is going to be no different, but I think the changes in the rules are going to help him from a ruck perspective. People are probably sleeping on that a little bit. He is a jumper. Getting back to the days of Nic Nat [Naitanui], being able to launch in the ruck, I think that suits him perfectly.

“He is still building his game, but I am excited about what he can do in the next 10 [years].”

While Saints are expected to now make the finals, having finished 12th in each of the past two seasons, Riewoldt said he was taking a long-term view.

“A pass mark? I am reluctant to put a number on because I think it is going to be more over the next three years, rather than what happens specifically over the next 12 months,” Riewoldt said.

“I think it will be more the eye test – what do we see from a [Mattaes] Phillipou, what do we see from [Max] King. The recruits are great, but I think a lot of that organic growth is going to come from the players they have there and need to become stars.”

Suns gun the latest Origin casualty

Andrew Wu

Brownlow medallist Matt Rowell will miss the start of the season as the injury toll from State of Origin rises.

The Gold Coast midfield star will undergo surgery later this week to repair a fractured finger sustained while representing Victoria against Western Australia.

The cost to clubs of the return of Origin has climbed significantly since first thought on Saturday night when Carlton’s Jacob Weitering appeared to be the major concern.

Matt Rowell will undergo surgery later this week for a fractured finger sustained in State of Origin.

Rowell joins Greater Western Sydney defender Sam Taylor to be ruled out of their club’s first game of the premiership season, while Adelaide recruit Callum Ah Chee (hamstring) and Weitering (ribs) are also racing the clock to be fit.

The Suns do not yet know how long Rowell will be out for but have already put the line through him for their opening round clash against Geelong on March 6.

“Scans have shown a fracture in a finger on Matt’s left hand. After consulting with specialists this morning, the decision was made for Matt to undergo surgery this week,” Suns physiotherapist Andrew Weller said.

“A timeframe around his return to play will be determined following the operation.”

The Suns should still field a high-class midfield without Rowell, a tearaway winner of last year’s Brownlow, with prized recruit Christian Petracca and skipper Touk Miller all in line for extra time on the ball.

Victoria’s chairman of selectors Garry Lyon spoke glowingly of Rowell’s commitment to the Big V in the first game of Origin since 1999.

“He’s nearly my favourite,” Lyon said on SEN. “I think he got a broken knuckle and he quietly sat in the back of the box and didn’t really tell anyone, he was just looking at his hand.

“They had to say he couldn’t go back on, and he was just filthy.

“You should see him train or at least watch him do his warm-up before a game. It’s back in the Nick Riewoldt days, he was running everywhere, going bonkers before the game started.”

The Giants expect Taylor to miss the opening rounds of the season with a high-grade hamstring strain. His recovery is likely to take longer than the six weeks listed for teammate Toby Bedford’s moderate hamstring strain.