St Kilda’s top draft picks Max King, Jack Bytel on comeback trail from injuries
St Kilda’s top draft pick is recovering from knee surgery and the club’s next pick faces a delayed start to 2019 with a back injury. But the close mates are determined to repay the Saints’ faith.
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St Kilda’s top two national draft picks and new housemates Max King and Jack Bytel will look to crank up their pre-season campaigns early in the New Year after making steady progress from the injuries that cruelled their 2018 seasons.
King, taken by the Saints at pick 4, is back running again, seven months into his rehabilitation following a knee reconstruction.
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But it is understood St Kilda is intent on taking a cautious approach with the 18-year-old key forward, meaning a possible Round 1 debut against his brother Ben and Gold Coast at Marvel Stadium on March 24 is considered highly unlikely.
“I am running well and the agility is sort of getting there,” King said. “I am starting to kick (on) both legs.”
“I am really happy with how it is going and hopefully it keeps progressing.”
He stressed there was no structured time frame on a full return to training, but said: “if I keep going the way I am going, it won’t be long after Christmas.”
Bytel, who was selected at pick 41, is also eager to put behind him a frustrating run of injuries after working to overcome stress fractures of the back before suffering a bulging disc in his back in July.
“It is probably not the way I wanted it to go, but it is all a part of footy and injuries happen,” Bytel said. “I am on the mend now.”
“I started jogging last week and I’m working in closely with the (St Kilda) medical team. Probably post-Christmas, when I get back from the break, I should be hitting some solid running.”
Runnin' pic.twitter.com/S0C7BMDbPn
— St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) November 29, 2018
The hardworking inside midfielder’s transition to the Saints has been helped not only by joining the club at the same time as King — who is a good mate — but he has also moved into King’s family home, which is not far from Moorabbin.
“I moved in on Saturday night,” he said. “Max is still getting used to me, but he has been all right.”
King joked: “He is a good addition to the household; (but) he sort of loses his personality after 8 (pm), so that’s something I have to get used to.”
Bytel was pulling beers as a bartender at the Railway Hotel in Yarraville until the middle of last week, but is now soaking up his new position with the Saints. His arrival at Moorabbin means he is the seventh player at the club to have Jack as his Christian name.
“There has been a bit of talk, but I think the boys will come up with a bit of a nickname for me,” he said.
There has been speculation King could wear Nick Riewoldt’s No.12 next season, but he said he hadn’t heard anything about his number and was happy to get whatever he is allocated.
“I guess I will find out in a couple of weeks, I am happy to wear any number. It is the St Kilda jumper that matters,” he said.