“Zero chance”: Cornes on King’s push for Opening Round return

Kane Cornes believes there’s no chance that Max King plays in St Kilda’s Opening Round clash against Collingwood.

Cornes’ comments came after Jay Clark wrote in the Herald Sun that King was pushing to play in the club’s season opener after four knee surgeries and 18 months on the sidelines.

While King last underwent a procedure in December to address a meniscus problem, Saints coach Ross Lyon says one strategy being considered is the key forward playing just 50 per cent game time.

After hearing those comments and looking at King’s injury history, Cornes is certain that the Saints forward won’t be facing the Magpies on March 8, which is only 40 days away.

“We better talk some footy,” Cornes said on SEN Breakfast.

“Jay Clark has done his regular hang out with St Kilda, and there’s going to be articles left, right and centre about the Saints.

“I feel like I've read all I need to read about the Saints, so I didn't consume a lot of the deep dives on their pre-season camp in the Herald Sun over the weekend. 

“But one thing did piqued my interest was that was St Kilda star Max King was eyeing an Opening Round return against Collingwood. 

“I'm telling you right now, and I'm not going to put a bet on it, but Max King won’t be playing Opening Round. Why do we do these things? 

“The article said that ‘St Kilda spearhead Max King has launched a shock comeback bid to take on Collingwood in the club's Opening Round blockbuster at the MCG’.

“Ross Lyon said, ‘Max said to me he's aiming for round zero, and because there's no sub, we can play in 50 per cent of game time. So he can come on for 10 minutes a quarter. There are different strategies being considered…’

“If he plays Opening Round, I will fall over. There is zero chance he plays in round zero, pardon the pun.”

Even if there’s a chance King could play some kind of role that early in the season, Cornes thinks St Kilda shouldn’t even think about risking their star forward as they’re no hope of winning the flag without him come September.

“Also, why would they? Why would they risk him there?” Cornes asked.

“That gave me the thought about your club's most important player. 

“Who can you not win the premiership without? I don't think the Saints can win it without him, because they need that focal point, they need a key forward. 

“They've got some good small forwards, and Rowan Marshall will play a bit more forward than what he has in the past. But, they're not winning it without Max King. 

“So, to risk him in Opening Round (would be reckless). You just see some silly things written in pre-season, and that's one of them.”

King last played in 2024, where he kicked 19 goals from 12 games. He kicked 52 goals from his last full season, which came in 2022, where he featured 22 times.