Gold Coast’s Ben King wins NAB AFL Rising Star nomination after breakout game

Gold Coast Suns forward Ben King was not sure about a move north when he was drafted to the expansion club last November. The Round 19 Rising Star nominee has no doubts now.

Gold Coast’s Ben King celebrates a goal against Essendon with teammate Ben Ainsworth. Picture: Getty Images

Gold Coast Suns forward Ben King is moving house this week, but has no plans to move back to Melbourne anytime soon.

“I’ve heard it’s pretty cold down there,” King said.

“I’m loving the weather up here at the moment.”

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King and fellow first-year Suns young-gun Jack Lukosius have shacked up with club chief executive Mark Evans and his wife Lynne since being drafted last November.

But the pair are finally flying the coup and moving into a new place of their own — sort of.

“They said they’ll be happy to have us any time and they’ll have us over for dinner a fair bit over the next couple of months,” King said.

Having shown some promising signs since making his Round 9 debut against Port Adelaide, King put it all together against Essendon on Sunday.

The 202cm key forward took five marks (three contested) and kicked four goals to earn the Round 19 NAB AFL Rising Star nomination.

“I feel like I’ve been building towards a bit of a breakout game for a few weeks now so it was good to have that happen and I felt confident out there,” King said.

“I was just trusting that my work during the week was going to pay off and I was going to take a few marks at some point.”

Gold Coast’s Ben King celebrates a goal against Essendon with teammate Ben Ainsworth. Picture: Getty Images

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The move to the Suns was one that came with a little trepidation.

“There’s so much negative media about Gold Coast in Melbourne, especially pre-draft,” King said.

“So I didn’t really know what to expect. But the quality of blokes around the club is awesome. They’re all such great characters and they’ve all been really good at looking after me.”

King and his management have put off talks on a contract extension beyond 2020, but the 19-year-old said he could not be happier right now.

“We were always going to put off contract talks until after the season,” King said.

“But I’m loving my time up here and I love the bunch of boys up here.”

One of those teammates is Michael Rischitelli, who King accidentally collected in the face with a left-arm swing against Carlton in Round 18.

However, the locker buddies have since made up.

“He’s been giving me a bit of stick but I deserve it for sure,” King said.

“I think I got him with a pretty good one. He was complaining his head was a bit sore, but it’s all fun and games.”

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