Retired AFL player Jake King confident on extortion charges as he defends his actions

FORMER AFL star Jake King has broken his silence on his extortion charges, saying “it’ll be cleared up”.

Jake King playing for McLeod footy team on Saturday.

FORMER AFL star Jake King has broken his silence on his extortion charges, saying “it’ll be cleared up”.

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The retired Tiger was charged with extortion and threats to kill and inflict serious harm after he allegedly attempted to collect a debt owed to former teammate Tyrone Vickery.

But King, speaking publicly about the charges for the first time yesterday, defended his actions.

“I’m in a little bit of trouble at the moment; however, it’ll be cleared up and the truth does come out in the end,” he said at a women’s lunch at the Macleod Football Club.

“If I asked you a question — if someone robbed you of $500,000, what would you think towards that person?

“The fact that I say it, it makes me a bad person. But the fact I do nothing about it makes me a coward.”

The Sunday Herald Sun believes King met Vickery’s business partner, Tony Mokdissi, in the foyer of Crown casino in a bid to retrieve the alleged debt. The showdown was recorded in a secret sting.

The restaurateur is alleged to have skimmed at least $150,000 from Fat Monkey, the Hawthorn East eatery he ran with Vickery.

Mr Mokdissi reportedly splashed the cash on racehorses, gambling advances and a Louis Vuitton bag.

Jake King plays for MacLeod. Picture: Mark Stewart

King said on Saturday he would “stick up” for his friends and family until the day he died. “I will move mountains if I can,” he said.

“If that means that I’m going to be s---canned and be on the front of the paper every second day, then s---, don’t waste your money. It’s all lies.

“It’s something I will do no matter what. It’s something that I’ve believed in and the way I’ve been raised.”

The former Tiger utility has long courted controversy and, despite retiring because of a toe injury in 2014, remains a headline magnet.

“The AFL couldn’t kick me out and I stirred more s--- than just about any other player they had come across, except for Ben Cousins,” King said.

“Surprisingly, Ben is one of my best mates. We all get along really well.”

King donned the number 60 for an appearance with his younger brother’s team, the Macleod Kangaroos, on Saturday.

His cousins are also connected to the Northern Football League club.

Heckled from the boundary by opposition spectators, he told one to “suck my ---- for fun”.

The ex-AFL hardman had racked up more than 100 games of junior football by the time he was 10 years old.

But he was overlooked at the top level as an 18-year-old and wasn’t drafted until he was 22.

The Tigers almost passed on King, concerned that he was too aggressive on and off the field.

Before being drafted, he was challenged by former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy to play a season in the VFL without being suspended.

“I may have slightly had anger issues and a bad temper when I was young playing football,” King said. “From the first time I got reported in under 10s all the way up to when I was 22 years old, every year I misbehaved.

“I ended up at Coburg and got through the whole year. I got reported once but, lucky enough, I got let off at the tribunal.”

He later added: “I’m a big sook with movies and things but on the footy field everyone thinks I’m an a---hole.”

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@moniquehore