AFL

Gold Coast appear to be preparing for life after Ben King with a positional change for the Coleman Medal contender ahead of his potential move to Hawthorn.

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With King looking likely to join the Hawks next season as a restricted free agent and the Suns unlikely to make wildcard, coach Damien Hardwick appeared to be getting ready for 2027 by using talented key forward Jed Walter as the main main in the nine-point loss to Melbourne on Sunday, according to Leigh Montagna.

King, who is usually the deepest forward at Gold Coast was used further up the ground, while Walter was situated closer to goal, in an observation noticed by the Fox Footy analyst.

Walter kicked three goals from five scoring shots, while King booted two goals from four scores.

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“It looked like a changing of the guard in regards to the position,” Montagna said on First Crack.

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“In this game, he was getting into positions that he’s not used to, Ben King. It was Jed Walter who was playing the deepest as the focal point — and it looked really good.

“I just wonder whether if this was intentional from Damien Hardwick, to say: ‘Right, well Ben, if you’re here next year we’re starting to plan for next season — and it’s going to be around this guy as our number one key forward that we’ve committed to.”

King looks almost certain to leave the Suns at the end of the season having not signed the most recent contract offer from the club.

Hawthorn are believed to be in the box seat to snare King, while Collingwood and Essendon have also shown interest.

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