Hawthorn has officially welcomed star forward Ben King to the brown and gold after joining the club as a restricted free agent on the final day of the free agency window.

The 26-year-old is free to sign with the Hawks after the Gold Coast SUNS opted against matching Hawthorn’s free agency offer.

Since being selected with the 6th Pick in the 2018 National Draft, the 202cm East Sandringham product has established himself as one of the premier goalkickers in the AFL.

King has placed in the top five of the league’s Coleman Medal in the past three consecutive seasons, including back-to-back podium finishes in 2025 and 2026.

During his last 72 games, King has been held goalless on just three occasions, whilst also booting nine bags of five or more goals.

Along with representing Victoria in the State of Origin earlier this year, King is a six-time club leading goalkicker, taking out the title in all but one of his seven full seasons to date.

He arrives at Hawthorn at the peak of his powers, having kicked a career-best seven goals in Round 2 this year, while ranking top five in the AFL for goals per game (2.6) and ranking elite for his position in goal accuracy (64.5% average). 

Hawthorn National Recruiting & List Manager Mark McKenzie said:

“We welcome Ben to Hawthorn, he’s a massive addition to what we are building towards as a club.

“Over a number of seasons, Ben has proven himself to be one of the AFL’s premier key forwards, consistently hitting the scoreboard as a tall target in attack with elite accuracy.

“At 26, Ben joins the Hawks at the peak of his powers with his strong attributes further enhancing what our exciting forward line looks like in 2027 and beyond.

“While Ben is clearly a highly talented individual, he’s also a person of high character who we know will make an immediate impact within our program.”