Nick Riewoldt backs St Kilda's $12m play at Tom de Koning as pre-season injury crisis deepens
St Kilda legend Nick Riewoldt has backed the club in its reported $12 million quest for Tom De Koning's signature.
De Koning's Blues contract expires at the end of the season, and his future at the club has been the subject of immense speculation.
Reports emerged this week St Kilda are prepared to offer De Koning a long-term deal worth $1.7 million a season, which would make him the highest-paid player in the game.
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Speaking on Triple M's Mick in the Morning on Friday, Riewoldt backed the deal, and declared long-term contracts "aren't as scary as we all make them out to be".
"He's a great young talent. St Kilda do have a really good ruckman that can go forward in Rowan Marshall," Riewoldt explained.
St Kilda want to make Tom de Koning the highest-paid player in the game. Robert Cianflone via Getty Images
"The Grundy-Gawn experiment didn't really go that well…
"But big contracts aren't as scary as we all make them out to be. You can do a lot of things with them – you can front-end them, you can back-end them.
"The bottom line is you want to bring great players into your football club. This guy has the potential to be that."
Meanwhile, the Saints' casualty ward is rapidly running out of beds with three more players sent for scans following a brutal match simulation on Friday.
Star forward Max King suffered a suspected knee injury in the first quarter, before Mason Wood and Jack Sinclair also had early showers with quad and hamstring complaints.
The severity of the trio's injury is not yet known.
"We'll provide further information once we have those results," St Kilda's football boss David Misson said.
Max King has been sent for scans on a fresh knee injury. Getty
"We understand the interest in Max, Mason and Jack, but until we have the scan results, we're working in hypotheticals which is irresponsible."
Injury has restricted King to only 23 appearances in the last two seasons. He missed the last eight games of the season after suffering a PCL tear last June.
Misson had earlier declared King's recovery had been strong, and expected he would be able to complete a full pre-season.
The fresh injury blow comes only days after scans revealed Mattaes Phillipou had suffered a leg fracture, expected to keep him sidelined for up to 14 weeks.
He'll be missing for at least the first six weeks of the season.
Dougal Howard (dislocated shoulder) and Paddy Dow (knee) have also suffered pre-season injuries, and their availability for round one is still unknown.
St Kilda's season will begin on March 16 against the Crows.
