Ben King (born 7 July 2000) is a professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er playing for the

Gold Coast Suns The Gold Coast Suns is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club is based on Queensland's Gold Coast in the suburb of Carrara. The club has been playing in the AFL since th ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). He has a twin brother

Max King Max King may refer to: * Max King (theologian) (born 1930), founder of the school of thought known as Transmillennialism * Max King (runner) (born 1980), American ultramarathon runner, winner of the 2014 IAU 100km World Championships * Max King (ru ...

, who plays for St Kilda.

Early life

King was born in

Melbourne, Victoria Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung–Taungurung language, Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the St ...

. He and his twin brother Max began playing

for the East Sandringham Football Club in the South Metro Junior Football League. The twins worked their way through the junior ranks before both being selected to represent the

Sandringham Dragons The Sandringham Dragons are an Australian rules football club playing in the NAB League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. They are based at the Trevor Barker Oval in Sandringham, Victoria, representing the southern ...

in the

TAC Cup The NAB League Boys (also referred to as simply the NAB League and formerly known as the TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition held in Australia. It is based on geographic regions throughout country Victo ...

while also attending Haileybury. Through their time at Haileybury the twins were closely mentored by three time

Coleman Medal The Coleman Medal is an Australian rules football award given annually to the Australian Football League (AFL) player who kicks the most goals in the home-and-away season. It is named after Essendon full-forward John Coleman, one of the most ...

winner

Matthew Lloyd Matthew James Lloyd (born 16 April 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A highly decorated full-forward, Lloyd's AFL's honours include ...

. Ben's draft stocks rose in his final year of junior football when his twin brother's ACL injury allowed him to play as the key forward for the Victoria Metro team at the U18 National Championships. He was subsequently named the All-Australian full forward for his performances during the championships. His junior football came to an end in mid-September 2018 when Sandringham fell to

Dandenong Dandenong is a southeastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, about from the Melbourne CBD. It is the council seat of the City of Greater Dandenong local government area, with a recorded population of 30,127 at the . Situated mainly ...

in the TAC Cup preliminary final. In November 2018, he was drafted by Gold Coast with the sixth selection in the 2018 national draft. King earned an

ATAR Atar, Atash, or Azar ( ae, 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭, translit=ātar) is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is considered to b ...

score of 96.35 upon graduation from high school.

AFL career

King made his AFL debut for Gold Coast against in the ninth round of the

2019 AFL season The 2019 AFL season was the 123rd season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season feature ...

. In round 19 of the 2019 season, he earned a nomination for the 2019 AFL Rising Star after a four goal performance while playing on highly experienced

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

defender

Cale Hooker Cale Hooker (born 13 October 1988) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hooker graduated from Applecross Senior High School and played for ...

. King rejected offers to return to Victoria in October 2019 by signing a two-year extension with the Suns. King suffered the same injury as his brother, a torn right ACL on the eve of the

2022 AFL season The 2022 AFL season is the 126th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season features ...

and is expected to miss the entire season. It was initially feared that King could have played his final match for the Suns, given he was out of contract at the conclusion of the year. Despite lucrative offers circulating from several Victorian clubs, he eventually signed a two-year contract, showing his loyalty and commitment to the club and its future.

Statistics

: 'Statistics are correct to the end of round 23, 2021. , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, , 34 , , 14 , , 17 , , 9 , , 65 , , 134 , , 99 , , 48 , , 10 , , 1.2 , , 0.6 , , 4.6 , , 2.4 , , 7.1 , , 3.4 , , 0.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, , 34 , , 17 , , 25 , , 20 , , 88 , , 33 , , 121 , , 48 , , 7 , , 1.5 , , 1.2 , , 5.2 , , 2.0 , , 7.1 , , 2.8 , , 0.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, , 34 , , 22 , , 47 , , 22 , , 112 , , 47 , , 159 , , 81 , , 16 , , 2.2 , , 1.2 , , 5.9 , , 2.5 , , 8.4 , , 4.3 , , 0.8 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 53 ! 89 ! 51 ! 265 ! 114 ! 379 ! 177 ! 33 ! 1.7 ! 1.0 ! 5.3 ! 2.3 ! 7.6 ! 3.5 ! 0.7

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:king, Ben 2000 births Living people People educated at Haileybury (Melbourne) Australian rules footballers from Melbourne Gold Coast Football Club players Twin sportspeople Australian twins People from Hampton, Victoria