AFL Suns v Blues: Ben King sidelined with knee injury ahead of clash with Carlton

Ben King’s season could be over after the Suns’ star goalkicker withdrew from Saturday’s clash with Carlton just hours after being named to play.

Gold Coast could be without star forward Ben King for the remainder of the season after the Suns’ spearhead was withdrawn from Saturday’s match day squad only hours after being deemed fit to play.

In a curious case of events, King got through Wednesday’s main session unscathed and was named to return from knee soreness for the clash with Carlton at Heritage Bank Stadium.

However the key forward reached out to interim coach Steven King on Friday morning to let him know his right knee – the same one he suffered an ACL rupture in last year – had flared up overnight.

“Clearly we thought the week off for King would give him a spike, which it did – so he completed training on Wednesday, got through and trained really strongly (but) this morning he’s presented with a little bit of swelling in his knee,” Steven King said.

“Clearly he hasn’t responded (well) from that session on Wednesday so we just don’t want to take a risk with him this week.”

Ben King and Nick Holman will both miss Saturday’s clash with Carlton. (Photo by Albert Perez/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

The circumstances are eerily similar to rebounding defender Lachie Weller, who also returned this season from an ACL injury and sat out a few weeks with knee soreness before scans ultimately revealed he needed further surgery on the knee.

The coach said there was “no concern” at this stage that his star forward had done any further damage to his knee.

“We’ll have a chat next week about whether it’s worth him making that trip down to Tassie (to play North Melbourne),” Steven King said.

“We’ll do the best thing for Ben.

“I think it’s nearly 20 games (and) 40 goals off the back of an ACL (injury). For a key forward I think that’s significant and it probably shows now him having to manage himself, what he went through for periods of the year to play that many games off the back of his first campaign back off a long break.”

With Nick Holman also ruled out for the final two games of the season with a lateral collateral ligament (LCL) injury, the Suns will roll out for Saturday’s clash with a new-look forward line.

Last season’s leading goalkicker Mabior Chol has been recalled in place of Ben King, with Alex Sexton taking Holman’s spot in a forward pocket.

The pair have combined for just 12 AFL starts this season however the coach backed both players to make an impact against the Blues.

Mabior Chol will play his first AFL game since round 9. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)

“Sexton is a goal kicker. We’ve asked him to go and develop his game away from that part of the game – the defensive transition side – and he’s done it really well and last week he had a complete game (in the VFL),” Steven King said.

“We know if he gets the ball in his hands inside 50 he’ll make the opposition pay.

“And I think Choly brings an unpredictability to the team. He’s an elite ground ball player for someone of his size.

“He has athleticism and I think he’s the perfect forward to come in for Kingy.

“It’s great motivation for him. He hasn’t had the year he probably would have liked in terms of games, but he’s gone back and worked on his game and we’ve been really proud of (him) as a coaching group and now he gets a chance to do it at AFL level.”