Max King dominates in breakout performance against West Coast

St Kilda’s future looks bright after Max King turned in a career-best performance in an absolute thriller that went down to the wire.

Max King had a career-best game for St Kilda against West Coast. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

A career-best performance from St Kilda’s Max King wasn’t enough to get his team over the line, as the Saints went down to West Coast by eight points in a thriller on Saturday.

It was a breakout game for King, who kicked six goals, the biggest haul of his fledgling career.

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After a sluggish few games, the Eagles got their season back on track to cement their spot in the top eight, defeating St Kilda 14.10 (94) to 13.8 (86).

West Coast had the better of the first half and led by 28 points at the main break.

The Eagles’ twin towers Josh Kennedy and Jack Darling kicked three goals each, while gun midfielder Tim Kelly was excellent and was close to his best.

But the star of the day was King, who asserted his presence on the game with eight contested marks along with his bag of goals.

The highlight from the young key forward came early in the last quarter when St Kilda was mounting a serious comeback.

King leapt high and took a spectacular mark, before going back and slotting the goal.

He kicked another major in the final term heroics reduced the deficit to single figures in the dying minutes of the game.

But a late goal to West Coast’s Dom Sheed put the result beyond doubt and snuffed out any hope of a St Kilda win.

The Saints fell short, but Max King was amazing with six goals and eight contested marks 👀

Enjoy it all in under a minute. #AFLEaglesSaintspic.twitter.com/mipKOQNvvp

— AFL (@AFL) July 24, 2021

Massive game from Max King. Super impressive. #AFLEaglesSaints

— Rohan Connolly (@rohan_connolly) July 24, 2021

Making King’s performance even more impressive was the fact he kicked all six of his goals from set shots.

The 21-year-old has struggled with his goal kicking accuracy this season, most notably against Geelong in round nine, when he kicked five behinds and only one goal.

Max King showed what he can do when he puts it all together. (Photo by Will Russell/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

King was taking huge marks everywhere. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)

While the loss is a devastating blow to St Kilda’s finals hopes, fans were very encouraged with the spirited performance, especially after influential ruckman Rowan Marshall was ruled out due to Covid-19 protocols.

We didn’t get the points tonight @stkildafc but as a proud supporter I absolutely loved the fight that you all showed right to the end ❤️ (Max King superstar❤️❤️)

— Glenn Maxwell (@Gmaxi_32) July 24, 2021

Win, lose or draw we are seeing the making of a champion of the future #MaxKing#Winx#AFLEaglesSaints#GoSaints#TogetherWeRise

— Philip Dalidakis (@philipdalidakis) July 24, 2021

Rowan Marshall doesn't go the Precinct and Saints probably win that game.

Also when's the coronation because there's a new King.

— Daniel Cherny 📰 (@DanielCherny) July 24, 2021

The result sees West Coast consolidate seventh spot on the ladder two games clear of Essendon, Richmond and Fremantle.

However, the win came at a cost for the Eagles, with dynamic small forward Liam Ryan substituted out of the game after suffering a hamstring injury.