AFL 2026: St Kilda coach Ross Lyon’s positive update on Max King

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon is set to sit down with the club’s high performance crew to chart Max King’s long-awaited comeback.

King has not played AFL in more than two years but is edging towards playing after injuring his hamstring in a VFL clash earlier this season.

Lyon has long resisted offering timelines on injuries, insisting recovery is never linear.

But he said King would integrate into the main training session this week before the discussion about his return.

“Max will train this week with the team, I wouldn’t have used the word imminent, but someone did so that sort of lit it up,” Lyon said.

“But he has made real ground, in the fullness of time we’ll get there.

“I am going to have a meeting later in the week, probably Friday the day before the game with high performance to get an exact feel on it. It’s imminent.”

Big man Tom De Koning is also closing in on a comeback after going down with another blow to his abdomen against Western Bulldogs.

“Tommy’s lungs are fine, he’s back running, it gives him a bit of a break from the club – he got down the surf coast with family yesterday and ran,” Lyon said.

“But he was in the meeting yesterday, the happy review, he’s on his way.

“Jack Sinclair we know is done for the year and that’s disappointing but we need to look after him.”

King and De Koning are part of the young talent Lyon has lauded as the club’s future.

As is Darcy Wilson, whom the Saints are well placed to keep despite being out of contract at season’s end.

“It’s a real weight of numbers performance, it’s great to see young players developing,” Lyon said.

“There’s been a lot of noise around him but he’s progressing, possession is nine tenths of the law.

“It’s the market you work in and ultimately you’ve got to build an environment, develop his football and create opportunity – we feel we’re doing that.

“That applies to all our players, to be honest. I like to think we’ve got 44 and like to look after them fairly.

“I don’t think everyone is equal because that would be communism, wouldn’t it? He would be getting 150, so we’ll get to that, work it out and ultimately we’ve got to satisfy him.”