Ben King

[B.M]

Why would Bailey Smith leave that side

They will be dominant for the next 5 years

Great list

Bruce must be loving be a part of that team!!!

[vacuous space]

Why would Bailey Smith leave that side

I said Smith is struggling to get midfield time, which is worth investigating. Surely, that isn't even halfway controversial. Bont needs a new contract, Dunkley and Macrae will need new contracts next year and Treloar is signed until the end of 2025. Libba's the number one clearance player in the league. He also needs a new contract. Maybe Smith is happy and takes less to stay there forever as a rotational mid. Even if he doesn't, he may not want to come here.

Point is, Smith better fits what we need. It doesn't have to be him. People want Ben King because they think he's gettable. I'm not sure he is. He can be closer to family and get ~$1M to battle for Colemans for a big Melbourne club. Probably one that's closer to a flag too. Or he can share a forward line with Max. Or go be the most expensive intercept defender ever. If he comes here, I'll take it, as it sure beats letting our recruiters read out names at the draft. Given a choice, I'd rather Smith.

[B.M]

I’d take King

Smith is a dime a dozen mid of which there are plenty of

Ben King is a 202cm freak athlete
Kicked 75 goals in 45 games in a woeful team at age 20

[Teflon]

GC are struggling they will sack their coach the AFL may again step in ...throw big bucks at a huge coaching name...
Point is .....longer we leave it then it just may get harder to get Ben out of the joint...
I’d go now - Billings compo if band 1 and next years first round DP
Take best mid with this years

[Yorkeys]

Is Ben King so good or another mirage. Is he as good as Lynch? Can't remember Lynch early but it doesn't seem so. Bolton takes more high marks in the goal square doesn't he? Just wonder if we are seduced by physical dimensions and green grass over the hill rather than results. Looking at other clubs' players jealously doesn't seem a healthy approach to team building to me. Find your own, develop your own.

[Ghost Like]

Is Ben King so good or another mirage. Is he as good as Lynch? Can't remember Lynch early but it doesn't seem so. Bolton takes more high marks in the goal square doesn't he? Just wonder if we are seduced by physical dimensions and green grass over the hill rather than results. Looking at other clubs' players jealously doesn't seem a healthy approach to team building to me. Find your own, develop your own.

Read B.M.'s stats. Ben King stacks up extremely well against any key forward (as does Max) over the past 10 years at the same age.

I do not believe getting the twins back together will have an adverse effect on the club, the players, a game plan. In fact it will be the polar opposite on all aspects.

[Ghost Like]

I’d take King

Smith is a dime a dozen mid of which there are plenty of

Ben King is a 202cm freak athlete
Kicked 75 goals in 45 games in a woeful team at age 20

I totally agree in relation to Ben, if he wants to be a Saint, make it happen.

I'm always confused with something described as "a dime a dozen", something we have struggled to attain yet spent millions of dollars failing to secure "a dime a dozen" player.

[Vazelos]

This years draft has quality mids we need to go back to the draft with our low pick . Ben King comes out of contract end of next year and we can try and prise him away then I know he wants to come home it’s only a matter of time.

[The_Dud]

The "King's ransom" we'd have to pay for him would set the club back too far for there to be any benefit IMO.

[Ghost Like]

The "King's ransom" we'd have to pay for him would set the club back too far for there to be any benefit IMO.

I don't follow this. Too far from where? Where we are now? We are drifting backwards, by the end of this season we may only have two or three more spots to go backwards before we cannot go further.

If King wants to be traded to St Kilda, let's wait to see what they want. The Suns will have several players looking to get out if they remain the same "groundhog day" situation.

He's worth two first rounders in any era, fingers crossed they accept a future one.

[skeptic]

The "King's ransom" we'd have to pay for him would set the club back too far for there to be any benefit IMO.

I don't follow this. Too far from where? Where we are now? We are drifting backwards, by the end of this season we may only have two or three more spots to go backwards before we cannot go further.

If King wants to be traded to St Kilda, let's wait to see what they want. The Suns will have several players looking to get out if they remain the same "groundhog day" situation.

He's worth two first rounders in any era, fingers crossed they accept a future one.

I tend to agree

We could build a forward line around these two for 10 years. Exactly the type of player you want to bring in

[older saint]

Not sure with Marshall, Membrey and Max King he fits.
Both Membrey and Marshall have many years still left and while the romantic of the bothers together is great perhaps they are like the Wakelins and perform better individually when not together.
We need skillful mids with this list not another Tall forward

If we are giving up 2 first round draft picks i would rather target a class mid like a Taranto or Kelly than a tall .

[Ghost Like]

Not sure with Marshall, Membrey and Max King he fits.
Both Membrey and Marshall have many years still left and while the romantic of the bothers together is great perhaps they are like the Wakelins and perform better individually when not together.
We need skillful mids with this list not another Tall forward

If we are giving up 2 first round draft picks i would rather target a class mid like a Taranto or Kelly than a tall .

older saint, I think we have the opportunity of a marketing dream. I also believe there's always room for another tall elite athletic footballer at St Kilda. I'm quite sure Membrey would love being the 3rd or 4th forward.

FA & RFA should get us an elite mid, if not we draft one this year and wait a few years. I doubt Ben King will be at the Saints next year so we have time to plan.

We have holes in our list, another key forward, a key back, an inside / outside goal kicking mid, a lock down small back to assist Paton and a quality ruck who can immediately cover Ryder or RoMa.

If one thing this season has shown us that 2020 masked is that we are more than a couple of players short of being Top 4 and a contender.

[The_Dud]

The "King's ransom" we'd have to pay for him would set the club back too far for there to be any benefit IMO.

I don't follow this. Too far from where? Where we are now? We are drifting backwards, by the end of this season we may only have two or three more spots to go backwards before we cannot go further.

If King wants to be traded to St Kilda, let's wait to see what they want. The Suns will have several players looking to get out if they remain the same "groundhog day" situation.

He's worth two first rounders in any era, fingers crossed they accept a future one.

I tend to agree

We could build a forward line around these two for 10 years. Exactly the type of player you want to bring in

I see it this way.

At the moment we have one A-grade midfielder, Steele, who turns 26 at the end of the year. Some of our young blokes look like they might become handy, but none are banging down the door to become future stars. We need to draft young mids to find a few stars.

So Ben would cost 2 x FRDP plus more. So to fill that quota we will either need to give up our first picks over the next 2 years, or let Billings go and hope he gets a big enough offer that we get another pick early in the first round. Best case scenario we have 1 FRDP over the next 2 years (and lose Billings) or worst case we have no FRDP over the next 2 years.

Where do we get mids from to get the ball down to the two Kings?

We won't get the opportunity to draft any first round mids until after the 2023 season, and with our draft history (haven't drafted an AA player since the early 2000s) I'm thinking we'll need as many chances to get it right as we can find.

So it would mean we won't have the side to serious challenge again til later this decade, and by then players like Steele and Crouch will be on their way out, so that's another A-grader we have to replace.

Plus it would also mean in a few years we'd be using at least $2M of our salary cap per season to pay 2 blokes in our forward line.


I think having the King brothers together is a romantic notion that clouds supporter judgement and will do more for the marketing team than the actual side on the field.

[Ghost Like]

The "King's ransom" we'd have to pay for him would set the club back too far for there to be any benefit IMO.

I don't follow this. Too far from where? Where we are now? We are drifting backwards, by the end of this season we may only have two or three more spots to go backwards before we cannot go further.

If King wants to be traded to St Kilda, let's wait to see what they want. The Suns will have several players looking to get out if they remain the same "groundhog day" situation.

He's worth two first rounders in any era, fingers crossed they accept a future one.

I tend to agree

We could build a forward line around these two for 10 years. Exactly the type of player you want to bring in

I see it this way.

At the moment we have one A-grade midfielder, Steele, who turns 26 at the end of the year. Some of our young blokes look like they might become handy, but none are banging down the door to become future stars. We need to draft young mids to find a few stars.

So Ben would cost 2 x FRDP plus more. So to fill that quota we will either need to give up our first picks over the next 2 years, or let Billings go and hope he gets a big enough offer that we get another pick early in the first round. Best case scenario we have 1 FRDP over the next 2 years (and lose Billings) or worst case we have no FRDP over the next 2 years.

Where do we get mids from to get the ball down to the two Kings?

We won't get the opportunity to draft any first round mids until after the 2023 season, and with our draft history (haven't drafted an AA player since the early 2000s) I'm thinking we'll need as many chances to get it right as we can find.

So it would mean we won't have the side to serious challenge again til later this decade, and by then players like Steele and Crouch will be on their way out, so that's another A-grader we have to replace.

Plus it would also mean in a few years we'd be using at least $2M of our salary cap per season to pay 2 blokes in our forward line.


I think having the King brothers together is a romantic notion that clouds supporter judgement and will do more for the marketing team than the actual side on the field.

Time will tell T_D. Whilst you have faith that we can do something via the draft, something we've failed to do in the past decade. I'd prefer our recruiters to devise a plan, stick to it and utilise Trading, Drafting & Free Agency.

If we only go down one stream we will miss out on opportunities in my opinion. Shows how important 2nd round draft picks are, having sold our future ones, limiting our ability to be flexible at the draft.

Nothing romantic about bringing the Kings together, we just have to see how impotent our forward line is when the likes of Jono Marsh, McKernan & calls for Howard and Carlisle to play forward really is.

[older saint]

Not sure with Marshall, Membrey and Max King he fits.
Both Membrey and Marshall have many years still left and while the romantic of the bothers together is great perhaps they are like the Wakelins and perform better individually when not together.
We need skillful mids with this list not another Tall forward

If we are giving up 2 first round draft picks i would rather target a class mid like a Taranto or Kelly than a tall .

older saint, I think we have the opportunity of a marketing dream. I also believe there's always room for another tall elite athletic footballer at St Kilda. I'm quite sure Membrey would love being the 3rd or 4th forward.

FA & RFA should get us an elite mid, if not we draft one this year and wait a few years. I doubt Ben King will be at the Saints next year so we have time to plan.

We have holes in our list, another key forward, a key back, an inside / outside goal kicking mid, a lock down small back to assist Paton and a quality ruck who can immediately cover Ryder or RoMa.

If one thing this season has shown us that 2020 masked is that we are more than a couple of players short of being Top 4 and a contender.

IF we are talking about getting him as a FA or RFA that is different. To me the only way it works is if either him or his brother will back up ruck from say 2023 on to Marshall, then it may work.

Marketing is great, but if it doesnt turn into wind people see through it and often it actually becomes more trouble than it was worth in value - Think about Carlton "whats cooking " slogan became a running joke for years.

I think our back half is ok Howard, Wilkie , Highmore( hopefully) , Webster, Paton, Coffield. Silk is what we lack in spades IMO

[Ghost Like]

I'm not sure a slogan has ever won a game of football but quality players have. I believe Ben & Max will be quality players for another dozen years. Together that is a club and marketing dream.

I do think from season 2023 onwards both will be able to do small minutes in the ruck. I'd rather see them both stay in our F50 though as I'm sure the opposition defence would prefer to see them rucking.

[B.M]

Inside Midfielders
Steele - excellent
Crouch - Very Good
Gresham - Very Good
Jones - Good
Clark - Good
Bytel - Int/Back Up
Byrnes - Int/Back Up
Dunstan - Depth
Hill - Wing

Need one more and another winger with speed

Left off Ross and Billings if they are let go/traded to open up cap space.

Are we really that light on??

A young mid would be nice, draft one with our first pick and play him!

[Banger9798]

I’d take King

Smith is a dime a dozen mid of which there are plenty of

Ben King is a 202cm freak athlete
Kicked 75 goals in 45 games in a woeful team at age 20

I totally agree in relation to Ben, if he wants to be a Saint, make it happen.

I'm always confused with something described as "a dime a dozen", something we have struggled to attain yet spent millions of dollars failing to secure "a dime a dozen" player.

If, by dime, we mean $800,000/yr
And ,by dozen, we mean One

then its quite accurate

[B.M]

I wouldn’t pay Smith 800k

That’s about where Steele is

He’s about to be a dual B&F
All Australian and 3rd in the Brownlow

Smith is a 600k midfielder and would be at the dogs, clear example of a player you’d have to pay overs to get, as he would just stay for his rightful salary.

Bailey Smith will be a dog for life, good clubs don’t let good players walk… Goddard cough cough

[saintsRrising]

If we get Ben King we may need to play him in the backline, as we may not have the midfield to get it into the forward line that often.

We can only hope that our pick 3-7 this year lands a mid- field gun. Hopefully one with pace that is a break away inside mid. When Jones has fired we have looked so much better. Just imagine if we had a true midfield gun with skillset to complement the talents of Steele and Crouch. .

[Wayne42]

I’d take King

Smith is a dime a dozen mid of which there are plenty of

Ben King is a 202cm freak athlete
Kicked 75 goals in 45 games in a woeful team at age 20

I totally agree in relation to Ben, if he wants to be a Saint, make it happen.

I'm always confused with something described as "a dime a dozen", something we have struggled to attain yet spent millions of dollars failing to secure "a dime a dozen" player.

We seem to default to "dime a dozen" slow mids with poor disposal skills, that's probably why the club has defaulted to trading for players. And then they still muck that up.

I hope they put all their eggs into a quality Key Defender.

[B.M]

Wouldn’t Jones and Gresham compliment Steele and Crouch?

[The_Dud]

The problem with trying to go the FA route to get A-grade mids is that as a bottom club we’d have to overpay for them.

I’d rather draft them in, as it would also generate more loyalty.

[Teflon]

The problem with trying to go the FA route to get A-grade mids is that as a bottom club we’d have to overpay for them.

I’d rather draft them in, as it would also generate more loyalty.

IF we land Bing on Billings comp + next year FRD pick
Then grab top 5-6 best player (pure midfielder) from this draft I think we’ll have done well
Hannebery goes.....open up the war chest for quality FA mid
I think we’d be attractive as a destination
We still need 1 larger stay at home defender imo so Howard can play attacking CHB role..