Max King (footballer)

King and his twin brother Ben King grew up in Hampton in Melbourne's Bayside area, with father Brook and mum Marni. The King twins would regularly play football, cricket, basketball and downball at the family home. The Klitschko brothers, who supported each other to become elite boxers, were a source of inspiration for Ben and Max, as were the Morris brothers in the NBA. King studied at and played for Haileybury College in high school, coached by AFL great Matthew Lloyd. He also played football for East Sandringham as a junior. In his bottom-age year, King kicked 10 goals in seven games for the Sandringham Dragons and a single game for Vic Metro in the TAC Cup. King was touted as the likely number one draft pick as he got close to his draft year. King dominated his only game for the Dragons in 2018, kicking eight goals before later suffering an injury. King suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in April 2018 which ruled him out for the remainer of the season. Due to Sandringham's connection to St Kilda, King was invited to complete his rehabilitation at the Saints' facilities. ==AFL career==

King was drafted by St Kilda with their first selection which was the fourth overall in the 2018 national draft. Twin brother Ben was also drafted that year, by the Gold Coast Suns with six. The King brothers were the first twins to both be drafted in the top 10. In June, King sustained a right ankle injury while playing for Sandringham which prevented him from making his AFL debut in 2019. 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 North Melbourne. King played 18 of a possible 19 games for the Saints in a COVID-interrupted season and finished with 22 goals and two finals appearances. For season 2020, King was also St Kilda's second-highest goal scorer, finishing behind Dan Butler (29 goals), and equal-first for contested marks with Rowan Marshall. King was also selected in the AFL's 22under22 at full forward. 2021 season A golfing incident saw King miss round one with a concussion injury, but he returned to the side in Round 2 and kicked 2 goals against Melbourne. King then had a 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, 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. 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). King also finished ninth in the Trevor Barker Award and earned the Best Emerging Player Award at the annual Best and Fairest. ==Statistics==

Updated to the end of the 2025 season. Notes ==References==