Gold Coast coach Stuart Dew is excited about key forward Ben King’s return in 2023.
The star 22-year-old missed the entire 2022 season after rupturing his ACL late in the preseason.
Now nine months on from that injury, King is almost ready to join full training and Dew believes the setback could end up being a positive for his career as he builds up for 2023 as a stronger player.
“He’s looking fantastic,” Dew told SEN Breakfast.
“He’s put on a fair bit of weight, he’s been able to put a lot of time into his physical preparation.
“He’s learned a fair bit about how to train and different means of training as well.
“A lot of these young lads come in and they haven’t had a lot of setbacks so we can use that as a positive.
“He’s done a fair bit of training now, he’s coming up on a tick over nine months.
“He’s almost in full training, that’s fantastic for the group to see him out there.”
King has kicked 89 goals from 53 games since being taken at pick No. 6 by the Suns in the 2018 National Draft.
He has twice been named the club’s leading goalkicker having won the award in both 2020 and 2021.