Steven King (footballer)
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| Personal Info | |
|---|---|
| Birth | November 22, 1978, Shepparton, Victoria |
| Recruited from | Murray U18 (TAC Cup) |
| Height/Weight | 202cm/106kg |
| Playing Career¹ | |
| Debut | Round 5, April 27, 1996, Geelong vs. Richmond, at Kardinia Park |
| Team(s) | Geelong (1996-)
171 games, 74 goals |
| ¹ Statistics to end of 2005 season | |
| Career Highlights | |
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Steven King (born November 22, 1978) is an Australian rules footballer.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Debuting as a 17-year old with the Geelong Cats in 1996, King is a gifted ruckman. He won All-Australian selection and won the Carji Greeves Medal in 2000, and also won the medal in 2002. He was captain of the club in 2003 - 2006.
In 2005, King was hit by numerous injuries and was criticised midway through the year in media outlets like the Herald Sun for his poor performances which his injuries caused. The aforementioned report in the Herald Sun newspaper brought to light the fact that the 202cm ruckman from Shepparton had not taken a contested mark up until that point of the season, which was inexcusable for a player of his stature.
King is one of the Cats' best leaders and will surely bounce back in 2007.
[edit] Controversy
[edit] Jeff White Incident
A moment of controversy occurred in Steven King's career in the 2005 Elimination Final, when King accidentally kicked Melbourne's Jeff White in the head. Both men were contesting a boundary throw in, and it was knocked to the ground. King was the man in front, and when the ball bounced up to head height, he took a mighty swing at it with his right foot. He missed the ball completely, but connected with Jeff White's face, giving him injuries which have been described as "equivalent to those of a car accident victim," requiring White to have several plates and screws inserted.
Media opinion was divided upon his fate. Under the new activation points tribunal system, King would surely be found guilty of severe, high contact in play. The point of conjecture was that of intent: reckless intent would see him serve a 3 week suspension; negligent intent would see him serve 2 weeks; accidental intent would mean he was not cited for an offence. Many commentators argued that, as he was legitimately going for the ball, he should not be suspended, and others stated that swinging his foot in such a manner in a pack of players shows lack of care, and should be met with suspension.
The Match Review Panel decided that he had no case to answer, and he was free to play in the semi-final against Sydney the following week. Even though Geelong was badly beaten out of the ruck by the Swans, King's presence on the ground was instrumental in Geelong building a strong lead in a low scoring game. King then injured his hamstring late in the third quarter; after this point, Sydney overcame a 25-point deficit in one quarter before stealing victory with a goal in the final three seconds. While it is well considered that Geelong were the overall better team on the night, the final quarter shows that Geelong may well have been thrashed if King were suspended for the kick. There is hence a consensus among those who believed that King should have been suspended that the eventual result was poetic justice.
[edit] Personal Life
King is currently dating former Price Is Right model, Danielle Atkin.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Ben Graham |
Geelong Best and Fairest winner 2000 |
Succeeded by Brenton Sanderson |
| Preceded by Brenton Sanderson |
Geelong Best and Fairest winner 2002 |
Succeeded by Matthew Scarlett |
