LIKELY top-five draft pick Max King says if he is drafted interstate he would prefer to head to a club with twin brother Ben.
Despite his knee reconstruction earlier this season, Max, who started running two weeks ago in his rehabilitation program, is still expected to be selected in the first handful of selections.
His brother Ben moved into a more permanent forward role when Max went down with the injury and performed well, and the 202cm pair are highly regarded for their marking ability and recovery at ground level.
Gold Coast will hold picks No.2 and No.3 (after the Tom Lynch compensation comes through from the AFL), while Fremantle may also gain another top-10 pick if Lachie Neale departs the club.
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It means the Suns or Dockers could look to pick the Sandringham Dragons pair and take them interstate together.
"That's just a part of the draft that you could go interstate so whatever happens, happens," Max said.
"I guess if I was to go interstate I'd like to go with Ben, that'd be pretty good, but after the trade period all the picks will be shuffled around so it's hard to tell."
Ben King in action for Vic Metro at the under-18 championships. Picture: AFL Photos
Ben, who was named an All Australian after his carnival with Vic Metro, said his brother's injury had opened up a place in attack for their representative sides, and he believed both could play in the same forward line together.
He admitted he had spent some time watching the draft order to see where picks would end up.
"It is hard not to think about who has which picks, but we're just trying to focus on what we're doing at the moment and see what happens," Ben said at Marvel Stadium on the opening day of this year's NAB AFL Draft Combine.
"I've started to get my head around [a move interstate] a little bit more, but I would rather stay in Melbourne with my family. But I'll go anywhere where I can play football."
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While Ben has established himself as the most versatile tall in this year's draft crop, Max's season has been full of the day-to-day "grind" that comes with returning from a serious injury.
Max said he had spoken to Melbourne defender Jake Lever, who suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament before he was drafted to Adelaide and had the same setback this year at the Dees, about how to approach his recovery.
"I'm about five months in. I started running a couple of weeks ago, so it's getting there slowly. That was definitely the major milestone for me so it's great to start ticking the legs over again," he said.
"[Lever] gave me some great advice about the mental side of things and how to deal with that so that's been really good."
Part of his program has seen King spend two days a week using St Kilda's facilities, and the Saints are in the mix to draft him with their first selection (likely to be No.4 after the compensation selection). The 18-year-old said it would be a dream to join the Saints.
"I'm a Saints supporter so it'd be great for me to end up there, but it's hard to tell at this stage so we'll see what happens," he said.
