St Kilda forward Max King has endured a lean few weeks.
There is no denying the prodigious talent of the 20-year-old who has shown glimpses of brilliance in his fledgling 29-game career to date.
In Round 9, King dominated in the forward line against Geelong when taking 10 marks, but couldn’t quite finish off his good aerial work as he kicked inaccurately to finish with 1.5 in the loss.
Much has been said and written about that wasteful performance and in three matches since, King has taken just three marks, had eight kicks and kicked one goal and four behinds.
It is understood that King was coping with back soreness during the weekend’s nine-point loss to Sydney, which may explain his quiet outing, but there is still plenty he can do to rediscover his best form.
King’s former coach at Haileybury College, Matthew Lloyd, outlined the advice he would give the 202cm talent.
“Get his body right (first),” Essendon champion Lloyd said on Sportsday.
“I’d have the ‘specky’ bag out at training and just start flying for marks again. I haven’t seen him go for the balls like I’ve seen in the past.
“I’d give him some time in the ruck, a bit of Joey Daniher style, just to try and free him up a little bit.
“Obviously I’d keep working on his goal kicking because I think that really has hurt him with that one goal five (behinds) which threw him out a bit.
“Jack Riewoldt and those guys, they just launch for everything. I think when King kicked his 1.5, Geelong couldn’t handle him. So I think get back to flying for everything.
“(He’s) not getting to enough contests. I think if he had someone take that stat for him every week saying, ‘I want you to get to eight contests a quarter’. He’d be getting told he’s getting to two or three at the moment.”
King has returned 14.22 and taken 42 marks in 11 matches for the Saints this season which is an increase on his average numbers of 2020, however, it is the past three weeks which is cause for concern.
The Saints meet Adelaide this Saturday night in a match that is scheduled to take place in Cairns but could still be shifted, with Chief Operating Officer Simon Lethlean telling SEN on Monday that Sydney is an alternative option.