The moment has been replayed endless times - with scores level and time winding down at Waverley Park, King marked just out of scoring range. Instead of quickly moving the ball inside 50, he turned his back on the play and walked back to the top of his mark as time expired.
His ensuing drop punt from 60 metres out after the siren fell just short and both teams headed to two five-minute halves in extra-time, much to the displeasure of furious coach in Denis Pagan.
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“I was a young fella, playing about his 20th game of footy and I just froze,” King told NMFC.com.au.
“I remember marking it and wondering how far out I was, because it was hard to tell at Waverley. You always thought you were a chance there even though it was a long ground.
“I normally just turned and went when I was on 50 but for some reason I didn’t that time.”
For a first year player, the pressure of the situation was enormous. Once the final siren had gone the enormity of the moment had hit.
“I felt like I’d put us into a situation we didn’t need to be in and I felt horrible.
“I’d had a reasonable game and I started feeling like it all could be on me (if the team lost).”
Thankfully for King, the team was just beginning to come into its own during that season, full of emerging leaders.
It was those players who were able to right the ship during the chaos.
“There was some confusion over whether the coaches could come and talk to us (before extra-time), but I remember the boys being pretty calm and not really being overawed with what was going on,” King added.
“In the end our leaders settled the troops and got everyone to put the pedal to the metal again.
“We were lucky enough that Duck (Wayne Carey) caught fire and put the game to bed.”
Carey was best-on-ground for the afternoon, collecting 32 disposals, 10 marks and kicking 4 goals. His performance became even more remarkable considering the circumstances it was played in.
“Wayne hurt his calf heading into that finals series,” King revealed.
“He’s an incredibly tough man. His mental toughness is undersold and he was just a warrior. He would never send us out there without leading the way.
“He kicked four that day but the extra 10 minutes of overtime didn’t really help him, I can assure you of that. Denis wasn’t happy with me taking the side an extra 10 minutes when the captain had a torn calf.”
King himself had a solid game in his first ever final. His 17 disposals and a goal came after starting on the interchange, a role much different in its complexity compared to today’s football.
When players started on the bench in that era, they often wouldn’t see their first action until well into the first quarter, and sometimes much after that.
“In those days you usually had to wait for someone to make an error or break a team rule to get on the ground.
“Denis backed his players and you knew if you were in the team that he was supporting you and trusting you to get the job done.
“When you were on the bench you were ready to play a whole host of different roles; whether that be half-back, half-forward, on-ball, so you had to be watching everything and learning how the trend of the game was going.
“It was about trying to stay in the moment without getting too overwhelmed and still having an impact on the game.”
Thankfully for King, his efforts at the end of regular time didn’t come back to haunt him.
“After the game I left the ground and when I got home to watch the news, I saw the vision of Denis going absolutely crazy. I thought this was going to be a long week at training.
“If I had have gone the torpedo and kicked it straight sideways I might have heard about it a bit more. I think because I went reasonably close the boys let me off the hook a bit, and we won the game so it didn’t matter.
“If we had have lost, there would have been all sorts of problems.”
The Kangaroos dominated extra-time, booting 3.5, with the Hawks failing to trouble the scorers. It booked a spot in the Preliminary Final a fortnight later after results fell their way.
