Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes has slammed St Kilda for barring young forward Max King from receiving goal-kicking tips off AFL legend Matthew Lloyd.
King, who Lloyd coached at high school level with Haileybury, initially reached out to the former Don for help in 2021 with the Saints denying his request as they’d rather let their own coaching staff train the key forward.
With King struggling for goal again in Friday’s loss to Brisbane as he kicked 0.5 from relatively standard set shots, St Kilda’s call was questioned again by Cornes after the 22-year-old’s waywardness cost his side the game.
“It was absolutely precious, and it was arrogant of St Kilda to not accept the help that Max was asking for,” Cornes said on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.
“Now we’re 12 months down the track and Max King has kicked 0.5 in a game that St Kilda needed to win to keep their final hopes alive.”
Post-match, Brett Ratten doubled down on the club’s decision to bar Lloyd from coaching King, stating that the forward “won’t be seeing anybody outside the club” despite the fact that he’s kicked 41 behinds to go with his 47 goals this season .
“Flatly denying that they will accept any help from outside the club,” Cornes said.
“Once again, I will say it’s arrogant, it is precious, and they are looking after their own ego.
“Max King is crying out for help, he’s asked for help and his football club is denying him of that.
“It’s costing his team … I guess I’m going to say again for the arrogance of thinking they can fix a problem that they clearly can’t.”
In his press conference, Ratten also added that King doesn’t have “many flaws” in his goal-kicking routine, something that Lloyd himself disagreed with.
“It’s a very naive comment because he has got flaws,” Lloyd said.
“I want to take a look at what he’s doing wrong.
“When he’s coming in you need momentum in your run-up… when you’re walking in slow like Max King is, to generate power, you need to lean back with your body.
“But if you’ve got speed on the ball and you’re going quicker, you’re over it and you can get your ball drop down.”
Further analyzing King when he makes contact with the football, Lloyd believes having a more upright back position when kicking could help the young star.
“I’m not sure why he’s spinning the ball as he’s coming in,” he said.
“But look at how slow he’s coming in, the momentum falls back.
“He kicks the ball but look at the position he’s in, he’s leaning back like he’s on a chair.
“That’s why he’s struggling and he’s pulling the ball as he tries to generate power.
“You should be kicking the ball and going forward and taking another step after you kick the footy.
“It is a technical flaw, he’s kicked 47.41 this year.”
King and the Saints will be hoping to bounce back when they host Sydney at Marvel Stadium next Sunday.
“It is arrogant, it is precious, and they are looking after their own ego.”@kanecornes calls out St Kilda’s ‘arrogance’ for refusing to accept outside help to fix Max King’s goalkicking, as Llordo demonstrates where the young Saints star is going wrong.#9AFLSFS | @Channel9 pic.twitter.com/zRtaoWXxla
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) August 14, 2022
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