IT WAS different last time, but a similar long, lonely road back.
Last time it started before Max King arrived at St Kilda. Last time he was in the early weeks of completing Year 12 at Haileybury College, anxious about what a knee reconstruction would mean for his draft prospects. This time he had a full rehab team around him at Moorabbin, devising and tinkering the plan to get him back ASAP.
When the 22-year-old underwent a reconstruction in December after dislocating his shoulder in one of the first sessions of the pre-season, King knew what was ahead of him. He knew it would mean putting a thick, black marker through another chunk of football. He was also aware he had overcome a more unforgiving challenge. It wouldn't be as arduous as recovering from a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament at the age of 17.
King missed the first nine games of 2023, but the Sandringham Dragons product hasn't missed a beat since returning against Greater Western Sydney in round 11. All the early starts and late finishes inside RSEA Park, working closely with Saints rehabilitation coordinator Hal Marsden and physio Liam Phillips, were worth it. He has found his rhythm again.
"I've done that long-term rehab before and knew there were lots of ups and downs to come. I was prepared, in a sense, for that rollercoaster. We had a new rehab guy Hal and the rehab physio 'George' (Phillips) were massive for me, especially when you have those ups and downs," King told AFL.com.au after last Thursday night's 14-point victory over Sydney.
"It is tough, it's a long road staring at four or five months out. Then I had that little setback with the hamstring. It is all part of it. The shoulder feels pretty easy compared to a knee. I can't thank those who helped me enough, the physios, the rehab guys, my family as well. I got through it.
"Each time you learn a bit more about yourself. With the longer-term ones you can sit back and work out what you want to get better at; is it watching vision? Is it putting a bit of weight on? If you see each one as an opportunity then they can still be opportunities to improve."
King managed only five VFL appearances for Sandringham in his first season after recovering from the knee reconstruction and issues related to that. Then, after making his debut on the weekend the game was shut down on the opening round of 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, the 2018 No. 4 pick played 60 of the next 63 games before his shoulder was dislodged from its socket just before Christmas.
If the memories of being carried off on a stretcher against Geelong Grammar had started to fade, Max was reminded of just how cruel this game can be when his twin brother, Gold Coast key forward Ben, missed all of 2022 after rupturing his own ACL at training last February.
While Max was en route to 52 goals and 7th place in the Trevor Barker Award, Ben was putting his knee back together in Queensland. They have shared plenty already in a journey that is just getting started. Injury is part of elite sport, part of their journey.
It took Ben the first five rounds of this season to regain the form that saw him boot 47 goals in 2021. He has since kicked a bag of five and two hauls of four to sit 10th in the Coleman Medal race on 30 goals after 12 games, much to the delight of his biggest fan.
"We chat every day, but not heaps about football to be honest. That helps getting my mind off it, just chilling out chatting on the phone," Max said.
"I love sitting back watching him play each week. At times it feels like I'm watching myself, I'm really invested in him and love seeing him and the 'Goldy' boys going well. That put a smile on my face in rehab."
When King went down in December, St Kilda was optimistic he would only miss a month. The timeline gradually drifted as the Saints' injury list extended, eventually reaching nine games after a hamstring setback.
But despite missing so much football, King has kicked 11.2 from his first three starts against Greater Western Sydney, Hawthorn and Sydney to remind the competition why he is St Kilda's most valuable commodity.
"The goal was always to come in and make an impact, not take a month to get going. I'm a proud person. If I'm playing, I want to play my best, I don't really want to take a few weeks to get going," he said.
"(There's) still a few areas that I feel like I need to improve in, but not a bad start. I still feel like I need to get a bit of that game fitness back and I'm finding myself getting beaten in some areas. The rest of the boys are playing so well and moving the ball so well, so I am getting opportunities. I did do a lot of work towards the back end of my rehab."
St Kilda started last season 8-3 and ended up dropping eight of its final 11 games to cost it a spot in September and Brett Ratten his job, following an external review of the football department. The Saints are 8-4 but this feels different under a new regime that includes famous St Kilda names in Ross Lyon, Robert Harvey, Lenny Hayes and Brendon Goddard.
Sydney at the SCG isn't quite the scalp it was this time last year, but King believes the win on the road last Thursday night will help fuel a run towards September after an up and down run of form on the other side of the mid-season bye.
"I think we’ll get a lot of confidence from this," the 202cm spearhead said from the corner of St Kilda's rooms that buzzed in the afterglow that only wins on the road radiate.
"Sydney is a good side. It was a really gritty win and back playing the way we want to play. We were a bit shaky before the bye but hopefully the bye was a little reset and we keep building in the back end of the year."
The King has returned. And the game is better for it.
