AFL great urges St Kilda star Max King to 'get the dive out of his game'
Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes has urged St Kilda star Max King to "get the dive out of his game", saying it's become a bad habit for the young forward.
King kicked two goals in the Saints' 20-point loss to Richmond on Saturday, and was involved in a number of scuffles, but Cornes was disappointed by how often he went to ground.
"We love Max King and he was imposing and started the game really strongly," he said on Nine's Footy Classified.
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"This is the presence he can make, clunks (a big mark) and then he goes over and pushes and shoves, but I want him to get the dive out of his game.
St Kilda star Max King has been called out for diving after being involved in a number of scuffles against Richmond AFL Photos via Getty Images
"If you're going to be the big, commanding centre-half forward for the next 10 years and a physical presence, I don't need this. The push and shove is fine, but I don't need the staging.
"Max, if you're going to be that big, aggressive forward, be that, don't give me the diving.
"We're not going to see this sort of stuff from the big key forwards in the game, and he's got to get that out of his game, and I think he will do that because we've already seen it a couple of times this year already."
St Kilda has been one of the biggest surprise packets this season under returning head coach Ross Lyon, but Cornes questioned whether the veteran coach was tough enough on his players, particularly after he gave his side a "mulligan" after a poor performance this season.
Kane Cornes isn't sure Ross Lyon is pushing St Kilda's playing group as hard as he possibly can AFL Photos via Getty Images
"I just wonder whether he is drilling them as hard as he needs to," he said.
"He's spoken recently about 15 contact hours at the club only. Is he driving the group?
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"This is just an observation from the outside, listening and sitting through his media conferences. When have you ever heard Ross Lyon at Fremantle say, 'I've given them a mulligan'?
"Is the new version of Ross driving the group as hard as he has in the past? I don't know that. Get a bit of mongrel back."
