Executive General Manager of Football David Misson remains “very adamant” of Max King’s importance to St Kilda, backing in the injured key forward for the future after he was ruled out of the remainder of the year with a season-ending knee setback.

The Saints spearhead injured his knee just after half-time of last Sunday’s contest against Port Adelaide, playing through the setback before subsequent swelling and a scan yesterday afternoon revealed a full tear to his left PCL.

King will be in a full brace for three weeks to help the ligament “glue up” before reintroducing a range of motion and reloading to the knee in the weeks afterward, and pleasingly will not require any surgery to attack the upcoming pre-season unaffected.

Injury has been unkind to King over the past 12 months, who underwent two shoulder reconstructions after an injury-affected 2023 before wrenching his knee against GWS in a marking contest which sidelined him for two weeks; an incident unrelated to his most recent setback.

Criticism surrounding King has been pronounced this week just gone, however Misson remained resolute in the club’s vision for the 23-year-old, drawing parallels with two-time Coleman medallist Charlie Curnow who suffered a similar injury-interrupted few seasons before fully hitting his straps.

“We feel that Max is a long-term player at St Kilda,” Misson said at this afternoon’s press conference at RSEA Park.

“I spoke to him on the phone earlier and cited Charlie Curnow’s history, who played 15 games in three years and virtually missed two seasons with knee injuries.

“We’re very confident in our medical and rehab crew. They’re already putting plans to place to get him strong and ready to go, and we expect him to start day one of pre-season with his teammates in full training.”

Despite carrying the injury, King elected to be thrown into the ruck after a quieter first half against the Power in the hopes of pushing his side over the line in the tightly contested encounter.

“Our medicos checked him at three-quarter time and (Max) gave them the all-clear (to play on),” Misson said.

“When (the runner) went out to inquire to ask the question (about going into the ruck) via Ross, Ross said ‘I want him to answer the question honestly’ and Max was adamant that he wanted to do what the team needed. 

“It was only for a five-minute period, but he had no hesitation getting in there. He would never make the excuse that (the injury) affected him in the second half.”

The call to rest King for the remainder of the season was made with the long-term in mind, with the nature of the injury allowing him to potentially soldier on for the next eight weeks.

King now joins fellow tall timber target Anthony Caminiti (ankle) on the club’s injury list, with Jack Hayes also sidelined with his own knee complaint.

Tim Membrey pieced together a strong performance for Sandringham over the weekend with 20 disposals and a goal, while last week’s substitute Cooper Sharman was effective in his limited gameplay with a goal and a direct assist to Jack Higgins in the last quarter.

“To his credit, he wanted 24 hours to think about it. He’s quite functional and considered playing on and helping his teammates out for the rest of the season, but we’re quite glad in a way that he’s made the decision to finish up,” Misson said.

“We’re hoping, ironically, this is going to allow Max to have a full pre-season (by) finishing his season early to allow his knee to heal and then really attack pre-season with the rest of his teammates, which is something he obviously hasn’t had for the past two years.

“We know the calibre of person, athlete and footballer that he is and we’re really confident in Max’s future at the club.”