- Geelong players and staff shocked by incident
- Cats play Brisbane in preliminary final on Saturday
Geelong’s preparations for the AFL preliminary round against the Brisbane Lions have been disrupted after assistant coach Steven King suffered a “medical incident” during training.
King, one of the final three candidates for the head coaching job at West Coast, was rushed to Epworth Hospital after the incident at GMHBA Stadium around 11am on Friday.
The 45-year-old man collapsed on the field while talking to colleagues and players and was quickly treated by medical staff.
He remained in hospital for observation on Friday and club management expected him to recover.
Coach Chris Scott said there was no life-threatening situation.
Scott added that it is unlikely King will be part of the coaching panel for the knockout match against Brisbane at the MCG on Saturday.
The Cats players were taken inside after the incident and a press conference with Scott was postponed.
Former Cats player, now Geelong assistant coach Steven King (pictured) collapsed during a training session at the club’s home field on Friday
The 35-year-old was rushed to hospital and is not expected to be part of the coaching panel when Geelong take on Brisbane in Saturday’s preliminary final.
King played 193 games for Geelong from 1996 to 2007, before playing 47 games for St Kilda from 2008 to 2010.
He scored a total of 83 goals, won the national title with the Cats in 2007 and was named to the All-Australian team in 2000.
King joined Geelong as an assistant coach last October after spending two seasons as part of the Gold Coast Suns coaching team. He was interim coach for the final seven games of 2023 after Stuart Dew was sacked.
He also coached the Saints in 2011, after which he spent ten years on the Western Bulldogs coaching panel and was part of the team’s 2016 win.
The former ruckman is one of the final three candidates to succeed Adam Simpson as head coach of the Eagles.
He told reporters he felt like he was on the verge of realising his dream of managing an AFL team as he flew west to be interviewed.
“Honestly, I’ve been working hard for this for the last few years. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I’m in the fortunate position that it’s almost a reality,” King said.