St Kilda star Max King won’t be ready to play until Round 7 according to AFL Media’s Josh Gabelich.
King, 22, underwent a shoulder reconstruction in December and after meeting with his surgeon on Monday, is only expected to join the main training group in a month’s time.
While there was “chatter” that King was progressing better than initially thought, Seven’s Mitch Cleary says the Saints are taking a “cautious approach” with their young star to ensure he’s fully fit upon his return.
“It (the recovery) is (on par), there was a bit of chatter that he’d been progressing a little bit better,” Cleary told SEN Sportsday.
“But with those sorts of players at his age, they wanted to take a cautious approach.
“It is a blow for Ross Lyon, especially when Tim Membrey is coming off a knee cleanout, Jack Hayes is going to miss at least the first few weeks and they’ve lost some other key talls as well.”
With several key talls out of action, Cleary expects the Saints to select a smaller forward line to start the season, much like Richmond did in their premiership-winning campaign of 2017.
“We heard last week Ross may have to turn to the mosquito fleet,” Cleary said.
“It worked for Richmond (In 2017), they might have to do it with Jack Higgins, Dan Butler and a few of those guys in attack.”
As well as missing King, Gabelich reported that Zak Jones will miss a month of football due to an issue with his Achilles, likely ruling him out for Round 1.
In better injury news, the report says Nick Coffield is fully fit having missed the entirety of the 2022 season with an ACL injury.
The Saints kick off their 2023 season officially when they host Fremantle in a Round 1 clash at Marvel Stadium on March 19.