Champion forward Wayne Carey has questioned St Kilda's hesitancy to allow under-fire young forward Max King to access outside help to address his wayward goalkicking, labelling the decision as "bordering on stupidity".
King struggled in front of goal during Friday night's game, kicking 0.5 as the Saints fell to Brisbane by 15 points.
Having kicked 47.41 for the season, questions have been raised about the young forward's goalkicking technique, but Saints coach Brett Ratten backed his young gun after the loss.
"When we look back we'll be saying what a great player he is and what he's done. Tonight he had a night where it didn’t work for him. He did everything right bar the finish and for great forwards in the game that's happened," Ratten said post-game.
Speaking on Triple M on Saturday, five-time North Melbourne leading goal kicker Carey said that King needed to work not only on his technique, but the mental side of the game.
"It's between his ears, and reading between the lines that's what 'Ratts' was trying to say," Carey said.
"Sport at the top level is 90% above the shoulders.
"He has to master his own mind."
In 2021, the Saints didn't allow Essendon great Matthew Lloyd to work with their young star, despite the two having worked together when King was a student, preferring the 22-year-old to work with those within the four walls of the footy club.
Ratten reiterated the club's stance on the matter on Friday night, stating that the Saints had already had the staff to help King through his kicking woes.
Carey though, disagreed with those comments, labelling the decision to reject help from the likes of Lloyd and champion Saint Nick Riewoldt as "stupidity".
"The other part of his game, he has to learn more forward craft," Carey said.
"All these guys are willing to help. It was interesting to hear 'Ratts' say 'we don't need outside help', I think you should never cut yourself off to that, especially guys of that quality."
"If Nick Riewoldt, Matty Lloyd's coming to Max King and the club's saying 'no we don't want your help', that's bordering on stupidity."
Max King has kicked 107 goals from his 59 games in the AFL. At the conclusion of St Kilda's Round 22 match, he sat seventh overall on the Coleman Medal leaderboard.
