By Michael Gleeson and Peter Ryan
The Gold Coast Suns’ athletic tall forward Ben King has suffered a season-ending knee injury, but the ACL tear is not expected to influence whether Victorian clubs make a play for him.
King was sent for scans after hurting his right knee in match simulation and Suns football manager Wayne Campbell confirmed on Friday the 21-year-old would require a full knee reconstruction.
Ben King (centre) is having scans on his knee after a training injury.Credit: Getty Images
He said the club would rally around the forward as he begins his journey back to fitness.
“Ben’s going well, whenever someone goes down with an ACL it’s shattering for a start,” Campbell said.
“He’s got a really strong family and we’ve got some really good support around him from the footy club, it’s not ideal by any stretch but we know Ben’s strength of character will see him attack the challenge in a positive manner.”
King had put on a brave face as he left the scanning centre on crutches on Thursday.
“That’s just footy. You get injured. It’s all just part of it,” King said.
King had gone down after a marking contest and stayed on the ground, clutching his right knee.
King who shapes as an emerging star of the competition, after kicking 89 goals in his first 53 matches, is out of contract at the end of the season and has been keenly monitored by Victorian clubs eager to entice him home.
King’s twin brother, Max, also needed a knee reconstruction after tearing his ACL in his draft year in 2018.
Encouragingly for Ben, Max has recovered well from his knee injury and has shown no ongoing issues from the knee injury in terms of its impact on his speed, agility or leap.
Ben King’s contract status was always to be a focus of intense interest this year but before Thursday’s incident all indications had been that he was happy on the Gold Coast and likely to re-sign to stay with the Suns.
It is unlikely the knee injury will significantly alter any contract offer available for King.
The Suns know his ability, potential and structural importance and would be comfortable to still commit to him long term. Other clubs in need of a key forward would also be unlikely to be dissuaded from making a significant approach to him by the knee injury, especially given the way his brother has recovered from his reconstruction.
There is no good time to have one of your most important structural players, and one of your exciting young talents go down with an injury, but being only weeks out from the first game means he will miss the whole season.
It is also significant with coach Stuart Dew out of contract at season’s end, and improvement on the field in consistent competitive performances, and then in ladder position, will be important in the decision on whether Dew gets another contract.
Meanwhile, Port Adelaide small forward Orazio Fantasia will go back in for more knee surgery in Melbourne next week and is unlikely to play in the opening month of the season at least.
The dynamic former Essendon forward had minor knee surgery mid-season last year and made it back for the last rounds and finals. He was then still suffering discomfort in the off-season and went back in for more surgery on the medial meniscus in the left knee.
He got back to training in the pre-season and only to begin having trouble with his right knee and the decision was made for him to have surgery on the meniscus in that knee also.
Fantasia has barely trained through the pre-season because of the surgeries so will need some weeks to rehab and improve fitness before coming into contention.
Key forward Charlie Dixon is still recovering from injuring ligaments in his ankle after a training mishap in late January. He is a 50-50 prospect for round one.