MELBOURNE coach Steven King has confirmed Kysaiah Pickett will line up against St Kilda on Sunday, despite the superstar forward spending several days in Darwin this week dealing with a personal matter.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday morning, King was unequivocal in stating his All-Australian star would play this weekend.
"We were pretty proactive with it, Kozzy needed to get back for family reasons and I fully support any father at our club to make sure they get to support their family," the first-year Demons coach said.
"This was a no brainer for us. Kozzy will be back tomorrow, he'll (train) and play."
Demons great Garry Lyon reported on SEN radio on Wednesday morning that Pickett was working through a relationship breakdown with his partner, with whom he has a young daughter.
King said Pickett may need to spend more time in Darwin to stay connected to his daughter as the year unfolds.
If that does eventuate, Melbourne will ensure he has the support he needs to stay in game shape and potentially use training facilities at the Michael Long Centre.
"I know Michael McLean is up there and a lot of us here at the club have a lot of contacts through the Northern Territory," King said.
"So if he does need to go back once month or so, we'll make sure he ticks off what he needs to from a physical perspective and he doesn't miss out from an education point of view on what we need to keep growing in our game."
More to come