St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says the AFL injury release mandate is too "rigid" given the unpredictable nature of player management.
Lyon was probed about Max King, and the club's return timeline of the star Saint from a hamstring injury, which is listed as 1-2 weeks.
“Is he? To be honest, I don't dive into it; ideally, clubs don't have to do it. It's sort of mandated,” Lyon said of the injury list.
“If you think rehab is an exact science and websites are exactly accurate, then we're all living in a fool's paradise because even our experts can't tell us exactly when.
“I'm like you guys, ‘When?' They go, ‘Four to six, one to two, hit milestones. But it's really simple: you either hit milestones and keep progressing, or you miss them.
“You could miss one running band of high-speed sprints, and they work on 5 per cent progressions, and he pulls back a week.
“It's not as rigid as everyone likes to think it is. I think if you're using that as an access point to keep clubs accountable, I think you've got it wrong.”
King jetted off to the Gold Coast during his rehab in a bid to freshen up.
His twin brother and Suns player, Ben, is understood to have done training with him, which St Kilda encouraged, given Max's injury-riddled years.
“It's just an internal process, part of his rehab (and) a change of environment,” Lyon said.
“His brother is up there, so some little nourishment and connection for him there, get him away from the circus, probably, to be fair and freshen him up.
“I think clearly (it's a circuit breaker), he feels good. I've spoken to him – he's rehabbing, again, nothing sinister.
“He's going to play a lot of great footy for the Saints, it's just a matter of time."
The Saints will look to buck a three-game losing streak when hosting GWS at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, which coincidentally clashes with the Socceroos' first World Cup game against Turkiye.
