max king is set to step back into football this Sunday at RSEA Park, and for St Kilda it is more than a selection call. It is the sight of a key forward finally crossing back into a team after more than 660 days without a game at any level, with the Saints reshaping their VFL side to face Gold Coast.
What does Max King’s return mean for St Kilda?
The immediate answer is simple: it gives St Kilda a chance to see one of its most important players in match conditions again. King will line up for the Saints’ VFL side against the Suns, and the club has paired his inclusion with several other changes across the line-up. Tobie Travaglia, Ryan Byrnes, and James Barrat are also back from injury, while Alix Tauru and Hugh Boxshall have been named. Tauru is listed as an emergency for the AFL side.
For a player whose last senior game came in round 17 two years ago, the Sunday appearance carries a different weight. King has been through a long sequence of setbacks, including a calf muscle injury more recently, after the knee injury that kept him out for all of last year. The club had earlier described his injury as confounding even to medical experts. Against that backdrop, any return is measured less in spectacle than in process.
Why is the Saints forward’s comeback being handled through the VFL?
Ross Lyon has made the logic plain: the aim is to give King the best possible chance to build back properly. The coach said he may need only this week in the VFL before being considered for AFL football, but he also stressed the need to hold back the player’s “unbridled enthusiasm. ” That balance matters because King is not returning as a stopgap; he is returning as a central piece of St Kilda’s forward line.
There is a practical dimension as well. The Saints are coming off six changes for the clash at RSEA Park, with captain Billy McGee Galimberti missing after concussion against Coburg, Christian Algeri and Mason Szonyi out through injury, Jett Hartman and Tyson Nagel omitted, and Dougal Howard recalled to the AFL side. In that moving picture, King’s return through the VFL gives the club a way to test rhythm without rushing the bigger prize.
How have injury and patience shaped Max King’s comeback?
The timeline explains why this moment feels so significant. King, the No. 4 pick in the 2018 draft, managed only 23 games across the 2023-24 seasons before the pre-season knee injury heading into 2025 changed everything. A succession of operations followed, and the wait stretched on. That is the reality behind the headline: not just a return, but a return after a long period in which football has existed more as a target than a weekly routine.
Ross Lyon’s comments underline that the club is treating the process carefully. “I’ve learned, with all our players, just take it one moment at a time, ” he said. He also noted that King is keen to play AFL football, but the priority is to build him into that again in the right way. The sentence is straightforward; the challenge behind it is not.
What happens on Sunday at RSEA Park?
The match against Gold Coast begins at 2: 05pm ET at RSEA Park, with free entry for the public. It will also be streamed live on the official AFL app and. For supporters, that makes the game accessible; for the club, it makes the occasion more visible as King begins the next stage of his comeback.
St Kilda has also encouraged fans to follow its VFL Instagram channel for updates from Moorabbin, but the biggest update may come from the field itself: whether King can move comfortably, connect in play, and leave with another game under his belt. The Saints have built their week around that possibility, and the answer will shape what comes next.
For a forward who has spent more than 660 days waiting for this moment, the scene at RSEA Park will not solve everything. But it may turn a long absence into a first step, and that is where max king now stands: back on the ground, and back in view.
