WHEN Geelong names its 22 tonight to meet Collingwood in the preliminary final, Steven King will not be there. It's a closed book at Catland.

This may well be a relief to Leigh Tudor, coach of Geelong's VFL team, who has a grand final to consider on Sunday at Carlton against Coburg.

King was dominant, particularly in the last quarter of the preliminary final last weekend; he had 34 hit-outs and 26 disposals in the semi-final. For Tudor, having a ruckman of King's quality and accomplishment is an untold bonus.

But it is also a cruel piece of irony that King is fit and match-hardened for the first time in years — right at the moment when Geelong seems on track to break its 44-year premiership drought.

As things stand, there is no place in the senior team for him, barring an untimely injury to one of Geelong's talls.

As such, he might well be playing for his longer-term future when he steps out against Coburg this weekend. King is out of contract and just 28 with 192 games of senior experience behind him — an attractive proposition to clubs such as St Kilda who are perceived to need a ruckman.

Geelong has established Brad Ottens as primary ruckman, it has Mark Blake improving as Ottens' back-up and it has drafted a young ruckman in Trent West, 19.

Although coach Mark Thompson sees King as part of his future plans, it is not clear whether King feels the same way.

He would not comment to The Age this week, but one of his confidantes and former coaches, the long-time Melbourne, Essendon and North Melbourne ruckman Peter "Crackers" Keenan, is under no illusions that King might have to seek a trade in 2008.

"He has to play his heart out this week," Keenan said. "If they (Geelong) get Port Adelaide (in the grand final), there's (Dean) Brogan and (Brendon) Lade to think about. That's his chance. He might get to play two grand finals in two weeks.

"But they have to play West next year, so Kingy might just have to move on. It might rejuvenate him if it happens, even if it's a shame after he's been at that club since he was 15 or 16."

King has been exemplary through his period of difficulty, even going to the extent of mentoring the teenaged West, whose presence effectively threatens his tenure as a ruckman at Geelong.

"The guys respect him," Tudor said. "He's taken a genuine leadership role in our team and he's been fantastic. He's teaching Trent West all about ruckwork. He's taken Trent under his wing. He's taken the whole team."

But he has managed only five senior games, largely through injury. After Geelong briefly flirted with him in the seniors in rounds 18-20, he was dispatched back to the VFL in what appeared to be a final dismissal.

Thompson sees it otherwise. "He's very much a required player — very much," said the coach. "Circumstances have played an enormous part.

"We've had a dilemma the last six or eight weeks because the three ruckman have been fit and available and in the end we have a responsibility to pick the two that we think are going to give us the best chance to win. Blakey has done nothing wrong and Brad Ottens is one of the premier ruckmen in the competition.

"Steven King's really unlucky; I think we're all feeling for him. He's not out of contention if we happen to win … and he plays a terrific game. There's pressure on everyone."

Tudor says King's ability to train and play with some pattern in the past two months has been crucial. "He's playing good football. He's been dominating in the VFL, to be honest," Tudor said.

"He's just got to keep doing what he's doing and if an opportunity presents itself, he's going to be well and truly ready to do it."