ST KILDA captain Jack Steele flew into Adelaide on Monday night in a bid to return in Gather Round, but star forward Max King has suffered another setback in his bid to return from pre-season knee surgery.

Steele has missed the past two games with a knee injury after copping a knock at training ahead of the win over Richmond in round three. 

The dual All-Australian failed a last-minute fitness test at Marvel Stadium ahead of that game on March 29, before being removed from the 26-man squad last Friday before the team travelled to Adelaide for back-to-back games in South Australia.

Steele trained with the rehab group at RSEA Park on Saturday morning, where Paddy Dow ran for the first time outside after undergoing three rounds of surgery during the Christmas break due to an infection.

St Kilda spent the weekend based in Adelaide’s CBD but have now moved to Glenelg ahead of Sunday’s game against Greater Western Sydney at Norwood.

Small forward Liam Henry and defender Arie Schoenmaker also travelled to Adelaide on Monday after playing in Sandringham’s big loss to Greater Western Sydney in Blacktown on Sunday.

King was pushing to return for his first appearance of 2025 after injuring his knee in St Kilda’s intraclub on February 7, but suffered another setback at training on the weekend.

The 24-year-old underwent an arthroscope on his knee at the end of February to resolve the issue and was initially aiming to be ready by the first round or two. 

Now King will meet with more specialists this week to determine the next course of action after another frustrating setback.  

Small forward Dan Butler has also experienced a setback just when he was closing in on an AFL return, with the former Tiger now set to be sidelined for two or three weeks with an ongoing Achilles issue.

After winning the final three games of 2024 – and six of their last eight – Ross Lyon’s side have won three in a row to sit 3-1 after beating two of last year’s preliminary finalists – Geelong and Port Adelaide – in the past three weeks.