In today’s AFL Briefing, your wrap of footy news:

• Max King suffered a season-ending hamstring strain on Sunday.
• Brisbane’s Ty Gallop will face a serious misconduct charge.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon maintains the club is committed to Max King at Moorabbin, revealing the injury-prone forward was “really devastated” and asked if the club had had enough of him.

The 26-year-old has been put in cotton wool for the rest season but St Kilda stresses the 84-gamer is “incredibly important” to the Saints and they’re determined to get him back playing senior footy.

King will not play again until at least next year after it was confirmed on Monday he suffered a season-ending left hamstring strain in his return AFL game against North Melbourne on Sunday.

Lyon spoke about the extent of King’s frustration and disappointment, with the Saint seeking assurances that they would still back him as an AFL player.

Tied to the Saints until the end of 2032 after signing a six-year contract extension two years ago, King faces a huge challenge to overcome his injury woes.

“His concern was he’d let the club and a lot of his team down,” Lyon said on Fox Footy.

“And shame is too strong a word, but [he was] probably embarrassed.

“Like [he was] saying, ‘Have you guys had enough of me?’ And I said, ‘Hang on here. We’re in.’”

King’s season-ending left hamstring strain is a devastating blow for the Saints and King, who had not played at AFL level for 757 days before his latest setback, and has now suffered hamstring injuries twice this year.

Lyon is adamant the Saints did everything in their power to ensure King was fit enough to return to senior football.

“Every parameter … was really strong. I mean he got to half-time [on Sunday] healthy. Anyone who thinks it’s fatigue [is off the mark],” he said.

“There’s nothing on the parameters [we look at] or the demand of the game that caused this.”

Lyon had already defended the club’s decision to play King in the senior side and bypass the VFL this time, but the star forward will now have played just once in three seasons after a torturous run that includes injuries to both knees and calf issues.

King left Sunday’s 31-point win over North Melbourne midway through the third quarter and did not return.

He started each term on the bench and played in six-minute stints, but managed just one kick and one handball while playing at different times on Charlie Comben and Aidan Corr.

Saints football boss Lenny Hayes said the club would “wrap our arms” around King.

“It’s an incredibly disappointing outcome for Max, who has done everything possible throughout his rehabilitation to put himself in the best position to return,” said Hayes.

“He’s an incredibly important part of our football club. We’ll continue to wrap our arms around him and provide all the support he needs as he works through this latest setback.

“Our focus now turns to ensuring Max undertakes a full pre-season to allow him to get back and play consistent senior football in 2027.”

King signed a six-year contract extension in October 2024 that ties him to the Saints until the end of the 2032 season.

His horror injury run started about three months before he inked that deal, when he sustained a season-ending posterior cruciate ligament tear in his left knee in a two-point loss to Port Adelaide.

King also hurt his right knee in a pre-season game mere months later that ultimately required three separate surgeries and wiped out his 2025 season. After a delayed start to the past off-season, a new calf problem sidelined him again.

King made it back from that setback, only to suffer a hamstring strain in his second VFL game in May.

The 26-year-old went into an extended rehabilitation period after that, including spending time on the Gold Coast with his twin, Suns focal point Ben, who is expected to sign as a restricted free agent with Hawthorn.

Lyon said St Kilda’s high-performance team was satisfied that King had proven he was ready with a significant volume of running, including at high speeds and game-like intensity.

“We stand by our decision to play him,” Lyon said on Sunday.

There are still six seasons left on King’s deal, and he will be desperate to repay the Saints’ faith in him to avoid becoming the poster child for how long-term contracts can go wrong.

The No.4 pick from the 2018 AFL draft displayed his immense potential in a career-best 52-goal season in 2022.

St Kilda are clinging to a wildcard berth with a month to go in the home-and-away season, with matches to come against Sydney, Carlton, Richmond and Gold Coast, all of which will be played in Melbourne.

The Saints made a splash in last year’s player movement period, recruiting Tom De Koning, Jack Silvagni, Sam Flanders and Liam Ryan, after making Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera the league’s first $2 million-a-season man.

St Kilda’s big spending has so far delivered only a mediocre return, worsened by Flanders suffering a season-ending Achilles injury. De Koning also missed games with broken ribs and a punctured lung, but demonstrated what he could bring in a strong performance against the Roos on Sunday.

Lion straight to tribunal on misconduct charge

Brisbane youngster Ty Gallop has been sent straight to the AFL tribunal for shoving Port Adelaide’s Mitch Georgiades’ head into the turf.

Gallop has been charged with serious misconduct for the incident in the second quarter of Brisbane’s win over Port at the Gabba on Sunday.

The 20-year-old rolled Georgiades in a heavy tackle but has come under scrutiny for his actions off the ball immediately after.

As the Lions swept downfield, Gallop lifted Georgiades by the jumper before slamming him back into the turf head first.

Depending on how the tribunal sees the incident, Gallop could face multiple weeks on the sidelines.

“It wasn’t a great look, but I’m on the other side of it,” Port Adelaide coach Josh Carr said.

“They’re a team that plays tough and pushes the limits. We got the free kick, so we got rewarded. There’s not much more to say.”

Carr said Georgiades was unaffected by the incident after the game.

Gallop’s choice to hit out at Georgiades was described as “a stupid action” by former Brisbane great Alastair Lynch.

“We’ve been singing the praises of Ty Gallop over the last half a dozen weeks particularly,” Lynch said on Fox Footy.

“But that’s just a stupid action. We don’t want to see that. Mitch has had some problems with concussion.

AAP and Scott Spits