Gold Coast has delivered an “emphatic warning” to rival clubs looking to snare spearhead forward Ben King in free agency this year.
Clubs such as Collingwood and Hawthorn are expected to come for King, a Sandringham product who booted a whopping 71 goals last season and shapes as a Coleman Medal contender once again this year.
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But while they’ll look to lure him with cash upwards of $1.4 million per season, the Suns, according to Fox Footy and Herald Sun reporter Jon Ralph, will force clubs to cough up in a trade.
“Gold Coast has delivered an emphatic warning to the clubs like Collingwood and Hawthorn, who are chasing Ben King — who’s, right now, footy’s hottest player,” Ralph began on Fox Footy’s On the Couch.
“They will match any restricted free agency bid at effectively any price. They are not prepared to lose another star, like Tom Lynch as they did in 2018, (which) effectively decimated them, and put them five years back.
“Carlton let go of Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni (last year) — it decided that free agency price was too high — but if Gold Coast lost him as a restricted free agent, they’d probably get something like Pick 20 as compensation.
“Now, the likelihood is that he could still sign a two-year deal through to unrestricted free agency, when he could depart on his own terms, but this will stop clubs like Collingwood and Hawthorn, who might think ‘we can secure this player with money but no first-round picks’.”
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Ralph added that Gold Coast is “prepared to offer in the $1.4 million bracket” to keep the 25-year-old sharpshooter, who’s already booted 16 goals in three games.
He pondered: “What if a Collingwood or a Hawthorn counter with a $1.8 million deal long term? Are you matching a deal of that quantum?”
It’s expected that the Magpies, who are lacking a true key-position presence forward of the ball, and the Hawks, who tried to lure now-Lion Oscar Allen last year, will pursue King with vigour.
Asked which club needed King more, former Geelong champion Tom Hawkins said: “Collingwood, clearly.
“They lack that key figure to bail out to. Whether Ben’s that type of player … I mean, has he got the easiest job in football at the moment, leading to some of these midfielders at the Suns?
“He’s a sharpshooter in front of goal — he’s a player and a key forward that’s not high-possession, so that’s my own concern.
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“Can a player like Ben King perform in the big games when you’re under the most pressure, when you need a bailout option down the line?
“I’m just not sure that his game — low possessions, he obviously makes the most of his opportunity — but is it conducive to winning finals?”
On how much of his decision would be money-oriented, Geelong assistant coach Nathan Buckley said: “It’d be more based on family, wouldn’t it? You’d think the numbers would be quite similar, wherever he is.
“He might have to take a little bit of a financial hit to stay, (but) I think he’d be mad to leave, wouldn’t he?”
The Suns aren’t thought to be blessed with salary cap space, given that stars Matt Rowell, Noah Anderson, Touk Miller, Christian Petracca, Daniel Rioli and Mac Andrew are all being paid handsomely.
But Gold Coast doesn’t want a repeat of the Lynch situation in 2018, when the then-co-captain abruptly left for Richmond, and the club elected not to match the Tigers’ RFA offer sheet.
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