Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes has slammed St Kilda for preventing young forward Max King from getting kicking tips from AFL legend Matthew Lloyd.
King, who Lloyd coached at high school with Haileybury, initially asked the former Don for help in 2021 and the Saints turned down his request, preferring to let their own coaching staff train the key forward .
With King again struggling for goal in Friday’s loss to Brisbane while kicking 0.5 shots from a relatively standard set, Cornes again questioned St Kilda’s call after the 22-year-old’s capriciousness cost him the match.
“It was absolutely beautiful, and it was arrogant of St Kilda not to accept the help that Max asked for,” Cornes told Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“We’re now 12 months on the road and Max King has kicked 0.5 in a game St Kilda needed to win to keep their finals hopes alive.”
After the game, Brett Ratten doubled down on the club’s decision to ban Lloyd from coaching King, claiming the striker “won’t see anyone outside the club” despite kicking 41 behinds to take his 47 goals this season. .
“Absolutely deny that they accept any help from outside the club,” Cornes said.
“Again, I’ll say it’s arrogant, it’s precious, and they’re looking after their own egos.
“Max King is crying out for help, he has asked for help and his football club is refusing it.
“He’s costing his team … I guess I’ll say it again because of the arrogance of thinking they can fix a problem they clearly can’t.”
In his press conference, Ratten also added that King doesn’t have “many flaws” in his goal-kicking routine, something Lloyd himself disagreed with.
“It’s a very naive comment because it’s flawed,” Lloyd said.
“I want to take a look at what he’s doing wrong.
“When it comes in, you need momentum in your run … when you walk slowly like Max King, to generate power, you have to lean with your body.
“But if you have speed on the ball and you go faster, you get over it and you can knock your ball down.”
Further analyzing King when he makes contact with the football, Lloyd believes having a more upright back stance when hitting could help the young star.
“I’m not sure why he’s spinning the ball on the way in,” he said.
“But look at how slow it’s coming in, the momentum drops.
“He kicks the ball, but he looks at the position he’s in, he leans back like he’s in a chair.
“That’s why he’s fighting and pulling the ball while trying to generate energy.
“You should kick the ball and go forward and take another step after you kick off.
“It’s a technical flaw, this year he threw 47.41.”
King and the Saints hope to bounce back when they host Sydney at Marvel Stadium next Sunday.
“He’s arrogant, he’s precious, and they’re looking out for their own egos.” @kanecornes calls out St Kilda’s ‘arrogance’ for refusing to accept outside help to fix Max King’s goal kick, as Llordo shows where young Saints star is headed. wrong.#9AFLSFS | @Channel9 pic.twitter.com/zRtaoWXxla
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) August 14, 2022