{"id":831640,"date":"2026-07-29T16:40:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T16:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/831640\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T16:40:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T16:40:12","slug":"afl-ross-lyon-pledges-support-after-max-king-hamstring-setback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/831640\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL: Ross Lyon pledges support after Max King hamstring setback"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMate, we\u2019re on our knees, but we\u2019re not bowed, we\u2019ll be back and I\u2019m with you, we\u2019re not trading you\u201d.<\/p>\n

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has moved to cut through the \u201cnoise\u201d surrounding luckless forward Max King.<\/p>\n

King made his long-awaited return last week after two years on the sidelines, only to reinjure his hamstring during the third quarter.<\/p>\n

Lyon faced a tense press conference post game regarding the extent of King\u2019s injury and why he left Marvel Stadium earlier than his teammates.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Lyon said King had reason to be devastated after he had \u201cleft nothing on the table\u201d in preparation and cheekily referenced his post-match push back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we all understand that\u2019s being human, the devastation,\u201d Lyon said in part.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019ve given everything and it doesn\u2019t work out, well, you are devastated, I\u2019ve been there grand final days.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Max\u2019s case, he\u2019s given everything, given himself the best chance and then because you are emotionally vulnerable, you\u2019ve left nothing on the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cDeep down, you\u2019ve got great character because you know you\u2019ve given everything and we had a really good conversation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know someone expected me to jump in the car, miss the press conference and get to see Max down at Brighton, but that probably wasn\u2019t possible because I wouldn\u2019t have been at the presser.\u201d<\/p>\n

King\u2019s return was after three knee surgeries across 2025 as well as calf and hamstring strains earlier this season.<\/p>\n

Lyon spoke to King on Monday and pledged his support through another rehabilitation process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a really good conversation on Monday, and I said, \u2018I might be a lot of things, but I support my players\u2019,\u201d Lyon continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018I\u2019m all in with you here, mate, we\u2019re all in this together and in the context of the real world, this is not a catastrophe\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018I could catastrophise this myself and I am not going to allow you to, you\u2019re a great family, we\u2019ll get this right, it\u2019s a hamstring\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve experienced what he\u2019s got: Liam Henry, Jamie Elliott. I remember there was a period Nathan Buckley did eight hammys in a row at the back end of his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a bit different but when you\u2019re back \u2026 Charlie Curnow played two games in two years, so is it ideal? No. Will we get him right? Yes.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis knee is in great shape, what\u2019s good is we all saw what he looks like and what it feels like, he smelt it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said, \u2018Mate, we\u2019re on our knees, but we\u2019re not bowed, we\u2019ll be back and I\u2019m with you, we\u2019re not trading you\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose with a seat at the table \u2013 our board, me, Max, his parents and his manager \u2013 we\u2019re all in. Everyone else is just making noise.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou haven\u2019t got a seat at the table, you have no influence, you have no say. We\u2019re in it together with Max and we\u2019ll get through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

King\u2019s recovery hit fast-forward this year after he escaped the Melbourne bubble and trained on the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n

Lyon said St Kilda would consider taking King to Dubai or the Red Bull training facility \u2013 used notably by Christian Petracca and Travis Boak \u2013 in the US.<\/p>\n

\u201c(King) is seeing the specialist as we speak. You look at Dubai, is it Red Bull (training camp), is it that? There\u2019s all of that,\u201d Lyon said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he got out of here and away from the noise \u2013 and I know everyone is concerned with his mental health \u2013 even though we keep making him the topic of conversation, bagging lots of things about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it really is opportunity for him, he\u2019s got a long period now, he\u2019ll do a full pre-season, be at our first day back ready to go.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe real issue is the underlining deconditioning of an athlete after repairing cartilage, four months of no work, build him up for four months and then it tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll players will tell you, if you get in the main program you become bulletproof almost, and if you\u2019re out of it like this, it\u2019s like a yoyo and you just need a bit of luck to get continuity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally published as AFL: Ross Lyon vows St Kilda will not trade injured star Max King<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cMate, we\u2019re on our knees, but we\u2019re not bowed, we\u2019ll be back and I\u2019m with you, we\u2019re not…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":831641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[404594,404609,404608,404647,393685,4891,376963,404605,379257,404637,404622,396176,376730,378964,404595,379486,404599,394349,404619,404626,638,404635,382329,404623,64,63,55,639,55835,404629,404603,17845,1129,19120,404645,41814,5951,404614,404646,401898,404636,404597,404610,404607,379545,380886,404616,404638,404632,404628,404625,404643,404613,404601,404641,57596,36878,7145,13307,170572,401893,39417,404615,404634,48147,16691,1629,3502,404618,13052,404606,26511,43961,404620,404612,37989,39917,404611,404624,404621,6622,13890,17360,918,2963,85,1122,398469,404639,22410,391546,404627,377299,382205,384476,404602,377667,404648,404640,404644,381100,404598,404604,404617,304903,404596,383329,404631,383393,404633,378960,404630,204813,404649,364611,404642,1236,16707,404600,381028,41313],"class_list":["post-831640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-s-case","tag-s-defiant-message","tag-s-injury","tag-s-recovery","tag-s-return","tag-4891","tag-a-bit","tag-a-catastrophe","tag-a-full-pre-season","tag-a-great-family","tag-a-hamstring","tag-a-long-period","tag-a-lot","tag-a-period","tag-a-really-good-conversation","tag-a-row","tag-a-seat","tag-a-strong-message","tag-a-tense-press-conference-post-game","tag-a-yoyo","tag-afl","tag-all-players","tag-an-athlete","tag-another-rehabilitation-process","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-brighton","tag-bulletproof","tag-calf-and-hamstring-strains","tag-cartilage","tag-charlie-curnow","tag-christian-petracca","tag-continuity","tag-conversation","tag-dubai","tag-earlier-this-season-lyon","tag-eight-hammys","tag-everyone-else","tag-four-months","tag-grand-final-days","tag-great-character","tag-great-shape","tag-his-career","tag-his-future","tag-his-hamstring","tag-his-knee","tag-his-long-awaited-return","tag-his-manager","tag-his-mental-health","tag-his-parents","tag-his-post-match-push","tag-his-support","tag-his-teammates-on","tag-injured","tag-jamie-elliott","tag-king","tag-last-week","tag-liam-henry","tag-lots","tag-luck","tag-luckless-forward","tag-luckless-king","tag-lyon","tag-marvel-stadium","tag-max","tag-max-king","tag-max-king-king","tag-monday","tag-my-players","tag-nathan-buckley","tag-newswire-sport","tag-no-influence","tag-no-work","tag-noise","tag-opportunity","tag-our-board","tag-our-first-day","tag-our-knees","tag-part","tag-preparation","tag-reason","tag-red-bull","tag-ross-lyon","tag-sports","tag-st-kilda","tag-st-kilda-coach-ross-lyon","tag-star-max-king","tag-support","tag-the-back-end","tag-the-best-chance","tag-the-car","tag-the-club","tag-the-context","tag-the-devastation","tag-the-extent","tag-the-gold-coast-lyon","tag-the-main-program","tag-the-melbourne-bubble","tag-the-noise","tag-the-press-conference","tag-the-presser","tag-the-real-issue","tag-the-real-world","tag-the-red-bull-training-facility","tag-the-sidelines","tag-the-specialist","tag-the-table","tag-the-third-quarter-lyon","tag-the-topic","tag-the-underlining-deconditioning","tag-the-us","tag-this-right","tag-this-year","tag-three-knee-surgeries","tag-training-camp","tag-travis-boak","tag-two-games","tag-two-years","tag-wednesday"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831640","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=831640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/831640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/831641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=831640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=831640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=831640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}