AFL great Gerard Healy has lashed clubs for openly talking about poaching young players from the Gold Coast Suns, calling the speculation “borderline embarrassing”.
Despite stacking a wealth of young talent through the draft over the last few years, the Suns have continued to languish in the bottom half of the ladder, causing many to believe that another generation of Suns could soon be headed out the door.
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The expansion club has struggled to retain its star talent since its inception, with former captains Steven May and Tom Lynch both leaving for big Victorian clubs and winning premierships.
Victorian clubs are now circling around star forward Ben King, with the 21-year-old out of contract at the end of 2022 and yet to sign an extension.
Essendon and St Kilda are the two clubs constantly linked with King, with Saints CEO Matt Finnis recently speaking about the club’s desire to reunite King with his twin brother Max.
However, the constant speculation around the Suns stars does not sit well with Healy, who suggested that no other club is subjected to such behaviour from its rivals.
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“It’s amazing,” he told 3AW’s Sportsday.
“I don’t hear anybody from another club talking about players from anywhere else other than Gold Coast [discussing] who’s on their radar.
“Nobody is hearing about a player at Collingwood who is on a club’s radar, it’s borderline embarrassing and disrespectful.
“To me this particular one … a club 12 months out is saying [Ben King] is on their radar.”
Despite leading the Suns with 47 goals this season, King was unable to secure a top-ten finish in the club’s best and fairest award.
Essendon great Matthew Lloyd, who coached the King twins at high school level, believes St Kilda is confident that it can reunite the two brothers, but also has reservations on their fit together.
“They both want to be forwards,” he told AFL Trade Radio.
“The last thing any of those two want is to play at centre half-back, and I just wonder whether one of them would have to go there – more so Ben – because some days it wouldn’t work.
“I love that they’ve formed their own identities at their own clubs, rather than being heaped in the same basket as the King brothers.”