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Bookend brothers to rise the Suns

Ben King of Vic Metro celebrates kicking a goal during the 2018 U18 Championships match between Vic Country and Vic Metro at Melbourne Cricket Ground on June 24, 2018 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
15th November, 2018
13
1244 Reads

With picks 2 and 3 in the 2018 National Draft, the structure of the draft lies in the hands of the Gold Coast Suns.

The Suns are projected to go after South Australian lead up forward Jack Lukosius and goal kicking small forward Izak Rankine on November 22.

However, both Adelaide clubs have already issued a strong warning to the Suns that they will go after the two SA youngsters in the coming years when out of contract.

Which brings the Gold Coast to the reoccurring nightmare of players departing to rival clubs.

To stop the trend of players leaving the club, it is only rational for the Suns to draft Sandringham twin brothers Max and Ben King.

Ben is predicted to be picked up later in the draft than Max but to stop the exits of players from their list, the Suns will have to sacrifice a generational talent like Lukosius to move forward for the future.

The East Sandringham juniors and Haileybury college students have played all their football together, albeit at either ends of the ground.

Max being a more natural forward and Ben likewise a backman, they provide a futuristic replacement to recent departures Tom Lynch and Steven May.

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Both standing in excess of 200cm and 86kg, Max and Ben are an AFL preseason away from a prosperous career.

An ACL injury in a school match for Haileybury College against Geelong Grammar in April saw the end of Max’s season and a slide in the draft order from his 2017 predicted number one.

Yet in the same match, Ben swung forward to fill the void of Max’s absence and slotted a jaw dropping ten goals.

Gold Coast Suns

Gold Coast Suns players show their emotions (Photo by Sean Garnsworthy/AFL Media/Getty Images)

Both have said they would love to play with each other at some stage in their careers.

As the McGovern brothers have shown in recent years, getting to a club to play alongside your brother once in the AFL system is an extremely difficult task.

If picked up by the Suns, the Kings will thrive on the opportunity to play alongside each other, reflecting that in their immense competitiveness and loyalty on the field: withstanding a flowing exodus of players.

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Max has been completing his recovery at St Kilda and is an almost certainty to be picked up by the Saints if he slips to pick four.

With St Kilda having pick four and then 36 it is highly unlikely Max and Ben will be at the same club if looked passed by the Suns.

However, if drafted by the Suns, both Lukosius and Rankine will slip to St Kilda, who has the opportunity to complete the inaugural live trade on draft night to enhance their early round picks.

Adelaide having picks 8 and 13 and Port Adelaide picks 5, 10 and 15, and both desperate for South Australian talent, the Saints will find themselves in a strong position if Gold Coast picks up the Kings.

With this year being labelled the ‘super draft’, the Suns are undeniably going to walk away with an abundance of talent from picks 2, 3, 6, 24, 29 and 80.

It is just whether or not they make the right choices that result in them still having that talent in years to come.

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