A St Kilda spearhead has been the subject of an expert’s criticism following concerning vision from the Saints’ loss to Brisbane on Friday night.
Max King snagged three goals against the Lions at The Gabba, but his — and his forward-line teammates’ — slow reaction time has been made a point of concern.
St Kilda’s loss makes it four defeats in its past six matches as it languishes in 14th position on the ladder and 10 premiership points behind eighth-placed Fremantle.
Watch every game of every round this Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today >
Kingy slams Freo for not tagging Bont | 02:11
Dual North Melbourne premiership player David King noted St Kilda’s inability to capitalise from its early clearance dominance against the Lions.
“Look at the way the game unfolded,” he said. “They won 13 clearances of the first 14, the Saints. They smashed them, and this is what happened.
“They were winning clearance and then surging the ball forward, but the guys forward of the ball were asleep. They just weren’t ready for that surge ball to come out, and (they) got outmarked time and time again.
“They’re just not ready to play. There’s just no contest. The midfield (has) been under siege from the external sources like us in the media, saying ‘what’s going on?’
“They’re ready to go, but because their forwards can’t win a contest and (they) run to redundant positions, they get zoned off.
“This was a theme for the first quarter. They should have won the first quarter, St Kilda. And then you see what happened in the last three quarters, they (could have) gone on and win the game.
“They’re just not ready for that ball to come to them.”
Which bottom 10 team will make the 8? | 01:12
287-game St Kilda great Leigh Montagna chimed in: “To be fair, it’s been a theme all year. Everyone keeps talking about St Kilda’s inability to score, and everyone thinks it’s the plan and the ball movement, but as I’ve touched on a lot, if you can’t win contests in your forward half, you can’t score.”
King was adamant about St Kilda’s worst offender.
“You know who the number-one (culprit) is? Max King,” he stated.
“I call him ‘forty winks’. They call him ‘Winx’ (at St Kilda), right? I reckon he’s ‘forty winks’, because he’s half-asleep.
“Every time the ball comes quickly to Max’s contest, his opponent is in front of him. Wake up, Max. It’s time to compete, we need you in there hitting that ball first. He’s always second to the footy, and it’s a frustration.”
‘They lost this one in the coaches box’ | 02:53
King said his namesake was just a little bit off the pace, suggesting the Saints consult a Hawthorn great to assist their spearhead.
“I just think it’s a concentration thing,” King said.
“They’re the two metres that kill you. If he’s flipping that role over, it’s a mark inside 50 and the Saints are going forward to score.
“He’s just never there. I talked to Dermott Brereton about this on the weekend. What can you do? He says there’s things you can do, there (are) cues you can have with a forward like this.
“You can have them walking. You don’t have to start in front, you can finish in front when you think the ball’s likely to arrive. I would love Ross (Lyon) to ring Dermott and say: ‘come down and just help us through this component of the game’.
“Nothing else — just fix this, because I think there’s five marks a game sitting there for Max to at least compete in. (It’s) correctable, but he’s got to wake up. He’s got to be ready for the game to come to him.”
The Saints are on their bye, before preparing for a Round 16 Marvel Stadium meeting with Port Adelaide.
Source Agencies
