MELBOURNE is open to trading their two first-round draft picks as they look to be bold in the off-season, including another attempt to secure Gold Coast young gun Bailey Humphrey.
After securing a draft bounty for trading premiership hero Christian Petracca to the Suns last year, Melbourne could lure the unsettled Humphrey south this October.
King and Humphrey were infamously spotted catching up last off-season in a walk around Melbourne’s botanic gardens.
Humphrey signed a deal in 2023 to keep him at Gold Coast until the end of 2028, but the 21-year-old appears desperate to return to Victoria for family and personal reasons.
King was reluctant to speak specifically about Humphrey, but did so about the “opportunity to acquire talent”.
“We’ve got two first-round picks this year, so that’s an option for us to get better, looking at free agents as another avenue and then there’s uncontracted players as well,” King said on Tuesday.
“I’m really confident with the group of players that we have, getting more exposure in games, and that’s where our true growth growth will come from.
Bailey Humphrey and Christian Petracca during Gold Coast’s game against Richmond in R2, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos
“But anywhere we can target specific needs, we’d be crazy not to look at that. Everything’s on the table.
“It’d have to be an unbelievable deal for the club to part with those (first-round picks), but for the right circumstances, you’d have to look at everything.”
Like Gold Coast, Humphrey’s form has dramatically worsened after starting the season full of promise.
The opposite is true for the Demons, who sit seventh with a 9-6 record in King’s first season as coach.
But the Dees are yet to win a game outside of Melbourne this year, with eight of those victories coming at their MCG fortress.
Steven King is seen during Melbourne’s clash against Brisbane in round six, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos
They will face Hawthorn in Launceston on Saturday, having smashed the Hawks at the MCG earlier in the season.
King remains optimistic on Melbourne’s form away from the ‘G.
“We had a stinker in Gather Round, and we got touched up round two against Freo, who’ve been the form team,” King said.
“We pushed Sydney to the death and last week against Adelaide, I couldn’t have been more bullish walking away from that game around the style of footy that we played.”
King spoke less than 24 hours after Melbourne apologised to Sachi Dade, the partner of retired premiership player Steven May, after she sued the club.
Dade had mounted action in the Federal Court, accusing the Demons of three breaches over “a serious invasion of privacy”.
On Monday night, following a court hearing earlier in June, the club posted an apology on their website and the matter had been settled.
“I’ve had a lot of distractions this year, but in terms of me as distraction, not so much,” King said of the saga.
“I’m just really glad now it’s all done and it’s been taken care of.
“As a footy club, we admit we’d do things a bit differently with our time again, so we’ve apologised for that and we’ve moved on.
