![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n
But while they\u2019ll look to lure him with cash upwards of $1.4 million per season, the Suns, according to Fox Footy and Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph, will force clubs to cough up in a trade. <\/p>\n
\u201cGold Coast has delivered an emphatic warning to the clubs like Collingwood and Hawthorn, who are chasing Ben King \u2014 who\u2019s, right now, footy\u2019s hottest player,\u201d Ralph began on Fox Footy\u2019s On the Couch. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey will match any restricted free agency bid at effectively any price. They are not prepared to lose another star, like Tom Lynch as they did in 2018, (which) effectively decimated them, and put them five years back. <\/p>\n
\u201cCarlton let go of Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni (last year) \u2014 it decided that free agency price was too high \u2014 but if Gold Coast lost him as a restricted free agent, they\u2019d probably get something like Pick 20 as compensation. <\/p>\n
\u201cNow, the likelihood is that he could still sign a two-year deal through to unrestricted free agency, when he could depart on his own terms, but this will stop clubs like Collingwood and Hawthorn, who might think \u2018we can secure this player with money but no first-round picks\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Who are the Tassie Devils’ top targets? | 00:37<\/p>\n
Ralph added that Gold Coast is \u201cprepared to offer in the $1.4 million bracket\u201d to keep the 25-year-old sharpshooter, who\u2019s already booted 16 goals in three games.<\/p>\n
He pondered: \u201cWhat if a Collingwood or a Hawthorn counter with a $1.8 million deal long term? Are you matching a deal of that quantum?\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s expected that the Magpies, who are lacking a true key-position presence forward of the ball, and the Hawks, who tried to lure now-Lion Oscar Allen last year, will pursue King with vigour. <\/p>\n
Asked which club needed King more, former Geelong champion Tom Hawkins said: \u201cCollingwood, clearly. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey lack that key figure to bail out to. Whether Ben\u2019s that type of player \u2026 I mean, has he got the easiest job in football at the moment, leading to some of these midfielders at the Suns?<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a sharpshooter in front of goal \u2014 he\u2019s a player and a key forward that\u2019s not high-possession, so that\u2019s my own concern. <\/p>\n
Bobby Hill returns to Pies training | 01:56<\/p>\n
\u201cCan a player like Ben King perform in the big games when you\u2019re under the most pressure, when you need a bailout option down the line?<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just not sure that his game \u2014 low possessions, he obviously makes the most of his opportunity \u2014 but is it conducive to winning finals?\u201d<\/p>\n
On how much of his decision would be money-oriented, Geelong assistant coach Nathan Buckley said: \u201cIt\u2019d be more based on family, wouldn\u2019t it? You\u2019d think the numbers would be quite similar, wherever he is. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe might have to take a little bit of a financial hit to stay, (but) I think he\u2019d be mad to leave, wouldn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n
The Suns aren\u2019t thought to be blessed with salary cap space, given that stars Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson, Touk Miller, Christian Petracca, Daniel Rioli and Mac Andrew are all being paid handsomely. <\/p>\n
But Gold Coast doesn\u2019t want a repeat of the Lynch situation in 2018, when the then-co-captain abruptly left for Richmond, and the club elected not to match the Tigers\u2019 RFA offer sheet. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gold Coast has delivered an \u201cemphatic warning\u201d to rival clubs looking to snare spearhead forward Ben King in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,275902,2095,24164,64,63,689,55,639,275901,11295,14349,234183,10133,14390,39202,275898,1127,10145,61,2105,2485,9130,7492,6179,681,275899,36877,12157,647,7198,26511,25844,2041,2067,677,29107,701,6858,672,85,1117,19118,12120,39223,275900,2614,660,4899],"class_list":["post-558998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-agency-price","tag-america","tag-assistant-coach","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-bailout-option","tag-ben-king","tag-bobby-hill","tag-clubs-looking","tag-collingwood-magpies","tag-daniel-rioli","tag-drew-jones","tag-emphatic-warning","tag-fox-footy","tag-garry-lyon","tag-gerard-whateley","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gold-coast","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-hawthorn-hawks","tag-jack-silvagni","tag-jon-ralph","tag-key-position-presence","tag-mason-redman","tag-matt-rowell","tag-melbourne","tag-michael-willson","tag-nathan-buckley","tag-noah-anderson","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-oceania","tag-premiership-hero","tag-queensland","tag-richmond","tag-richmond-tigers","tag-sports","tag-tom-de-koning","tag-tom-hawkins","tag-tom-lynch","tag-touk-miller","tag-trade-threat","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-victoria","tag-virginia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=558998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/558998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/558999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=558998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=558998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=558998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}