Superstar Suns ahead Ben King has hinted a contract extension may come on the finish of the season however his focus for the second is on spearheading a historic Gold Coast finals berth.
King, 22, signed a two-year deal final yr tying him to the membership till the tip of 2024 however that solely delayed hypothesis he may someday search a return residence to Victoria.
Saturday’s opponent Collingwood is one membership tipped to be fascinated about his providers, whereas a reunion with twin brother Max at St Kilda is one other in style principle.
But King says he “couldn’t be happier” with life on the Gold Coast.
“Both from a football point of view in terms of where we’re heading and what we are going to be able to achieve, but also from a life and relationships point of view as well,” he mentioned.
“I couldn’t be happier and no doubt that (a new contract) will all take care of itself.”
After lacking all the 2022 season with an ACL harm, King has performed each sport thus far this season and sits tenth within the Coleman Medal race with 33 objectives.
As the focus of a threatening Suns tall triumvirate that includes a redeployed full-time ahead in Jack Lukosius and pack-crashing monster Levi Casboult, King is a significant a part of the membership’s current and future plans – and he expects contract talks to proceed on the finish of the season.
“Yeah I’d say so,” he mentioned.
“At the moment it’s just focusing on the next game and that’s where all my attention is going.”
After dismantling Hawthorn to the tune of 67 factors final Sunday, the Suns welcome top-of-the-table Collingwood to Heritage Bank Stadium this week.
It begins a brutal three-week stretch of fixtures that includes an away journey to Port Adelaide earlier than a return residence to host St Kilda.
Sitting 7-7, the Suns doubtless must win six of the final 9 video games to lock in a maiden finals berth.
King needed to watch from the sidelines final season as Gold Coast managed to win simply three of its final 9 video games to fall out of the finals race and he’s desirous to make a distinction this yr.
“It was hard watching (from the sidelines) last year and I think, reflecting on that I do feel really grateful just to be playing football again and to be part of this team and hopefully push for success towards the end of the year and I’m really enjoying my role in that,” he mentioned.
“I guess we’re not talking about it (finals) too much really, we’re just trying to focus on week to week … but it is obviously hard not to think about.
“That’s what we want to achieve certainly, but not what we’re focusing on at the club. We have Collingwood this week and that is where all our focus is going.”
Saturday’s conflict at Heritage Bank Stadium is a near-sellout, with fewer than 1000 tickets nonetheless accessible.
Gold Coast CEO Mark Evans urged followers to pack the stands this weekend and assist break the membership’s single-game attendance file at Carrara of 24,032, which was set in Round 16, 2014 in opposition to Collingwood.
“The record crowd is a little over 24,000 and we haven’t had a crowd about 20,000 (at Heritage Bank Stadium) since then. The maximum capacity for this week’s match is a little over 25,500,” Evans mentioned.
“Whether we can beat the record will depend on the show rate of people who have access to seats, so I would encourage them to make sure their seat is being used either by themselves or a family member – and to make sure that we have plenty of red and gold representing the Gold Coast.”
Evans additionally envisions a summer time sit-down with King and his administration to go over the phrases of a contract extension.
“We had some good discussions with him when this current contract was done and we’re delighted by the fact he’s bought a property on the Gold Coast and looks to be here for quite a while,” Evans mentioned.
“I would think that somewhere across this summer we would have the follow-up chat to the ones that we had previously.
“He shows great commitment to the club and his teammates and we know how well-settled he is off-field and all of those things point towards a good outcome in the right time frame.”
Originally revealed as Gold Coast AFL: Ben King hints at contract extension, places finals berth on agenda
Source: www.news.com.au
