Gold Coast key forward Ben King is a “deep thinker” and is not going to rush his decision to extend — or not — his next contract with the Suns.
King’s manager Robbie D’Orazio is currently on the Gold Coast and exclusively told 7NEWS he was there to meet “a couple” of his players and “work through some things”.
But King, a restricted free agent, is the hot talking point after it was thought not long ago that the Victorian was close to signing a new deal with the Suns.
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“At the moment Ben just wants to play good footy,” D’Orazio told 7NEWS on Wednesday.
“He’s obviously leading the Coleman at the moment on 42 goals, so he’ll continue to do that … (But) getting the team into the finals is his main thing at the moment and I think he’s doing a pretty good job.”
Pressed on whether King would stay with the Suns, D’Orazio said King was happy to take his time.
Questions are being asked about Ben King’s value as the star forward gets set to sign his next contract. Credit: Getty Images
“Ben’s a deep thinker and doesn’t rush these decisions. He’s going through the process but as I said at the moment he just wants to make finals,” he told 7NEWS.
“Obviously the Suns are in a little bit of a trough at the moment and he’s working closely with Dimma … and I talk to (football manager) Craig Cameron regularly, and they’re very comfortable with where things sit.”
D’Orazio also said he hadn’t spoken to to other clubs about King.
“As I said before, Ben’s a grown man now and he’ll tell me when he’s ready to make a decision. But at the moment he just wants to make finals and kick goals for the Suns.”
On Tuesday 7SPORT expert Tom Morris said Hawthorn had emerged as the frontrunner to secure King’s signature.
Morris said King had not told the Suns he was staying, leaving everyone at the club “nervous” about his potential departure.
However, the Suns won’t let him go easily.
“What you can lock in if he does want to go to the Hawks is that the Gold Coast Suns will match the bid and they’ll want three first-rounders and Hawthorn will have to pay up,” Morris said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters.
“If they don’t, it’ll be a dogfight. Ben King’s a restricted free agent, which means they can match the deal. That’s where it sits at the moment.”
It has been suggested that King is being offered $1.25 million per season, but Kane Cornes does not believe he’s worth the massive investment.
Despite leading the Coleman Medal race, Cornes points to King’s performances in the club’s best-and-fairest awards where he has only appeared in the top 10 once..
“So run, run, run, Hawks, run away and don’t pay this guy $1.25 million,” Cornes said.
“Yes, he kicks goals, there’s no doubt about that, but he’s not rated by his own club and the history of the best and fairest is the best judge of that.
“These are the coaches that have voted on this guy and the best and fairest for a long period of time now, even the amount of goals that he kicked last year, 10th in the best and fairest (in 2025).
“So they rate all sorts of things. This is different coaches and all sorts of things. He’s got one top-10 finish and it was 10th in the best and fairest for Ben King.”
Dale Thomas said the match-day statistics also painted an interesting picture.
While King sits No.1 in the Coleman, he ranks 56th for marks inside forward 50, 11th for shots at goal, and a concerning 55th for contested marks.
His score involvements rank 119th in the competition, and he’s 327th for goal assists.
His performance on Friday night, where he was well beaten by Tom Barrass and didn’t have a kick in the first half, has only added to the concerns about King’s consistency.
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“I just don’t think he’s worth the money. I’d rather keep Jed Walter,” Cornes said.
Thomas said while the “goals are good”, there’s was not much else to King’s game.
“There’s not a whole heap coming with it in terms of being involved in marking on the lead, getting up the ground, contested marks,” Thomas said.
“So either he’s playing a role that isn’t giving him the opportunity to do that, or he’s not quite at his best just yet.”
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