WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.<\/p>\n KING \u2018DOMINO EFFECT\u2019 AS STAR WEIGHS UP \u2018DIFFICULT\u2019 CALL<\/p>\n The \u201cdomino effect\u201d of Ben King\u2019s free agency call looms large as the star Suns spearhead continues to weigh up his future and the family pull of a return to Victoria.<\/p>\n There was an expectation King was set to sign a two-year extension with Gold Coast, estimated to be worth around $1.2 million per season, as Victorian clubs including Hawthorn and Geelong watch on.<\/p>\n AFL journalist Tom Morris revealed \u201cit\u2019s well known\u201d King\u2019s partner is keen to get back to Melbourne, adding it\u2019s \u201cnot a criticism at all\u201d in a tough family v football decision. <\/p>\n \u201cThe (Suns) have even put provisions in his contract to fly his partner back to Melbourne regularly, which is inside the salary cap. So, they\u2019re bending over backwards to make it as attractive as possible for Ben King to stay,\u201d Morris said on SEN radio.<\/p>\n \u201cOn one hand, he\u2019s got the football and his lifestyle up there \u2014 and I believe he\u2019d prefer to be there for the next two years.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the other hand, he\u2019s got a family consideration, as to when to come home. <\/p>\n \u201cThat is a difficult conversation to have, and everyone is waiting at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Ben King is a restricted free agent (Photo by Chris Hyde\/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n It has a \u201cdomino effect\u201d on the futures of Bombers star Zach Merrett and Suns young gun Bailey Humphrey. <\/p>\n Both Merrett, who shares the same management group as King, and Humphrey, have also been linked to Hawthorn. <\/p>\n But if Coleman Medal leader King decides to head home and join the Hawks, it\u2019d throw a spanner in the works. <\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s safe to say there\u2019s no way Zach Merrett can get to Hawthorn, if Ben King decides to go there. They just don\u2019t have the draft picks … there\u2019s no way the Hawks can get Merrett and King,\u201d Morris added.<\/p>\n \u201cAt one end of CDG management, you have Nick Gieschen, Zach Merrett\u2019s manager, trying to get Merrett to Hawthorn. <\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s telling that to Robbie D\u2019Orazio at the other end of the office as he\u2019s trying to work out whether Ben King is going to stay at Gold Coast, or not. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is where their management groups can often work together.<\/p>\n \u201cThen there\u2019s someone like Bailey Humphrey, who the Hawks love as well. <\/p>\n \u201cThe King call sits above all this. If King stays, that does open the door for Merrett to get to Hawthorn, and potentially Humphrey to get somewhere else as well.\u201d<\/p>\n King is a restricted free agent, so even if he signs with a rival club, Gold Coast has the rights to match an offer and force a trade. <\/p>\n GREENE PROVIDES UPDATE ON FUTURE<\/p>\n Giants skipper Toby Greene says he hasn\u2019t given much thought to his free agency call as speculation swirls. <\/p>\n Greene, 32, is an unrestricted free agent and has been linked with a return to his home state of Victoria at season\u2019s end. <\/p>\n Reports last month stated GWS has put a three-year, $2 million offer to Greene, as the club balances the need to retain their stars set to enter 2027 free agency including Tom Green and Lachie Ash.<\/p>\n Blues edge Bombers for 4th straight win | 03:10<\/p>\n In a week the Giants have their mid-season bye, the veteran forward said he\u2019d focused on switching off.<\/p>\n \u201cI haven\u2019t had any of that, to be honest,\u201d Greene told SEN radio.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve just been very switched off the last few days, very low key. I spend most of the time with my family (and) to be honest, it hasn\u2019t crossed my mind too much.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m more focused on trying to get back in the season (and) try and make a run for it.<\/p>\n \u201cI know as the season gets a little longer, people start to talk more about it, then you probably have to acknowledge it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut at the moment I want to make sure the Giants are going as good as we can and get it done by the end of the season.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I\u2019m sure that\u2019ll play out in due course, but that\u2019s where I\u2019m at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u201cdomino effect\u201d of a star\u2019s free agency call looms large. Plus Toby Greene has given the latest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":722182,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,114589,257140,12093,64,63,689,55,639,11295,349929,3237,349930,9124,205710,349928,257136,2105,319650,2485,9130,47405,168801,42262,26508,677,12922,701,7889,85,91410,19086,1144,11236,349927,660,25581],"class_list":["post-722181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-agency-call","tag-agency-call-looms","tag-another-fine-day","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-ben-king","tag-big-name-skipper","tag-brisbane-lions","tag-call-sits","tag-chris-hyde","tag-domino-effect","tag-family-consideration","tag-family-pull","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-giants-skipper","tag-gold-coast","tag-gold-coast-suns","tag-head-home","tag-josh-fraser","tag-management-groups","tag-nick-gieschen","tag-oceania","tag-player-movement-news","tag-queensland","tag-salary-cap","tag-sports","tag-stars-set","tag-toby-greene","tag-tom-morris","tag-trade-news","tag-v-football-decision","tag-victoria","tag-zach-merrett"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722181","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=722181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/722181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/722182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=722181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=722181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=722181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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