LESS than a fortnight ago, Steven King stood in the MCG dressing rooms surrounded by television cameras and tape recorders, a premiership medal around his neck, basking in the glow of football's ultimate reward.

Yesterday, he was beset again by a similar media scrum, but in vastly different circumstances. The glow had given way first to shock, and now a gradual acceptance of life no longer as a Geelong favourite, but a ruckman for St Kilda.

The two-year deal having been completed barely an hour previously, King hastily had donned St Kilda football manager Ken Sheldon's club tracksuit on the street outside Telstra Dome for his first public appearance as a Saint. Needless to say, it wasn't a great fit. But after the past few weeks, battling first to find fitness and form, then the fear of missing out on being part of a premiership side, then having a dream realised before having a whole football life's chapter closed, King has become used to making adjustments rapidly, both literal and metaphoric.

"I think the last five weeks of my life would be an amazing reality TV show," he mused. "The ups and downs I've had throughout that time have just been an amazing learning experience for me, and the whole process, just going throughout it, I've found out a lot about myself."

King had won the battle against fellow Geelong ruckman Mark Blake to run out on grand final day, but it was the younger big man's acceptance of a new deal with the Cats that effectively ensured that triumphant afternoon also would be King's last in the blue and white hoops.

King said he harboured no bitterness to the club he'd captained for four seasons, but neither was he about to go overboard thanking Geelong for helping facilitate an easier pathway, along with teammate Charlie Gardiner, to a club in more obvious need of his talents.

"I think after 13 years' service and captaining the club, it's probably the least they could do for me," he said.

"I still think I can play, and I'm pretty sure most of the boys down the club (Geelong) still thought I could play, and like I said, the decision has been made for me. I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth into a new club and really getting the best out of myself for another couple of seasons, and I'm pretty sure I can do that and that I have plenty to offer."

So is St Kilda, desperate for more ruck strength with former Adelaide big man Matthew Clarke having retired.

King met coach Ross Lyon on Thursday, but his new mentor didn't have to perform too much of a hard sell to convince him this was a side with genuine prospects, particularly in the engine room of which King will now be a pivotal part, surrounded by the talents of Nick Dal Santo, Luke Ball, Leigh Montagna and Lenny Hayes.

"I've just sat around the past 24 hours and had a think about who my teammates will be, and it's going to be a pleasure working with a fair few of them, that's for sure," King said.

"I see a lot of similarities to where Geelong was 12 to 18 months ago.

"It's a very exciting list, I think they've got some great talent there, and for me to walk in somewhere that's going to be a finals side over the next couple of years really appealed to me, as opposed to going somewhere that was going to have to develop and wasn't going to be worth my while.

"To walk into a club that's going to be a force I think in the next two to three years really made the decision for me."

So King's football year of living dangerously takes another dramatic twist. And while the unexpected is quickly becoming the norm for the affable big man, this one will still take some getting used to.

There's been shock, resignation, some angst and now some growing excitement, though more than a tinge of sadness, too, about what's been left behind.

"I would have loved to have kept playing my whole career there (at Geelong), but there wasn't an opportunity for me to do that … I've got great mates there, and I think they'll understand what's happened."

They might, even if he's probably still having trouble doing so himself.