Tom De Koning: What Happened? Carlton Ruckman Trade

Height: 201 cm ·
Date of birth: 16 July 1999 ·
AFL games: 120 ·
Brownlow votes (2025): 7 ·
Current club: St Kilda ·
Former club: Carlton

Eight lines, one pattern: the public record on De Koning’s measurements and career milestones is consistent — the only number that ever wobbled was the contract.

What happened to Tom De Koning?

The short version: after seven seasons at Carlton, De Koning left as a restricted free agent and signed with St Kilda. The long version ran for eight months, from the first contract reports in February to the official confirmation in October.

Tom De Koning’s move to St Kilda in 2025

Carlton confirmed the exit on 26 August 2025 in a club statement. De Koning had informed the club of his decision to take up a free-agency option at St Kilda, and Carlton — while noting he was a restricted free agent — said it would not match the offer, which it described as significant, and that it would receive compensation from the AFL during the upcoming Trade and Free Agency Period in October (Carlton FC (club statement)). Because Carlton declined to match, no trade was needed. St Kilda’s own trade wrap later listed De Koning as its second free-agency signing on the opening day of that period (St Kilda FC (club’s official trade wrap)).

The pattern: Carlton watched the saga play out for months, then chose a first-round compensation pick over a reported seven-figure-per-season contract. That choice says more about the offer than any press release.

Contract details and free agency process

• De Koning moved under free agency rules, not as a trade.
• Carlton’s option to match the offer was the only real barrier.
• The AFL formalised compensation during the October period, reported as a first-round selection.

Under the AFL’s restricted free-agency system, a player can leave when a rival club tables an offer and his current club declines to match it. The losing club receives compensation instead of a trade return, which is exactly the path De Koning took.

The implication: Carlton now rebuilds with a first-round asset, while St Kilda bets that De Koning’s best football is still ahead of him. Both clubs got what they wanted; history will decide who got the better deal.

The pattern held: the public offer stayed unconfirmed, the compensation pick became the only hard number, and the decision itself was made months before October.

Are Tom and Sam De Koning twins?

No. The question follows them because they look alike, play alike and share one of the more distinctive surnames in the AFL. But the birth dates settle it.

Age difference: Tom born 1999, Sam 2001

• Tom De Koning: born 16 July 1999.
• Sam De Koning: born 2001.
• Age gap: two years, which rules out twins.

The two-year gap is the whole answer. Twins share a birth date; the De Koning brothers do not. The confusion probably comes from the similar height, the similar playing style and the fact that both reached senior football in the same era.

What this means: the physical similarities will keep the twin question circulating, but the public record is unambiguous — Tom is two years older, and that difference has never changed.

Physical similarities and separate careers

• Tom: 201 cm ruckman; Carlton 2017–2025, now at St Kilda.
• Sam: plays for Geelong.

The brothers were never on the same AFL list. Tom built his career at Carlton while Sam developed at Geelong, and Tom’s 2025 move to St Kilda means they now line up as opponents in the same competition, wearing different colours.

The pattern: two tall brothers, two similar games, two separate paths — and one persistent myth that a two-year age gap somehow still allows.

How much did St Kilda offer Tom De Koning?

The honest answer is that no exact figure has ever been officially confirmed. What exists is consistent reporting from multiple outlets, all converging on roughly the same number.

Reported offer figures

• 3 February 2025 — SEN: multiple sources said St Kilda had indicated a seven-year contract worth close to $12 million (SEN (sports radio network)).
• 31 March 2025 — 7NEWS: St Kilda tabling about $1.7 million per season over seven years (7NEWS (commercial news network)).
• 7 May 2025 — ESPN: a long-term deal worth up to $1.7 million per season (ESPN (international sports broadcaster)).
• 14 May 2025 — SEN: a “life-changing” $12 million contract over seven years (SEN (sports radio network)).
• Fox Sports: relaying SEN’s numbers, said the offer could make De Koning the highest-paid player in the competition (Fox Sports (Australian sports broadcaster)).

None of these figures have been confirmed by either club. The only official characterisation of the deal came from Carlton, which called the offer significant in the statement announcing it would not match.

Comparison to other ruckmen salaries

The market context matters because ruckmen rarely attract that kind of money. De Koning’s value to St Kilda is tied to his forward craft as much as his ruck work — he gives the Saints a 201 cm target who can rest forward, and that dual role is what the offer was designed to lock in.

The trade-off: if the reports are accurate, St Kilda is paying for a ceiling it believes De Koning can reach. The contract will be judged against whether he becomes the dominant tall the reported numbers assume.

The catch is now priced in: both clubs are playing the same reported number from opposite sides.

How many De Koning brothers are there?

In the public football record, there are two: Tom and Sam. In the family record, Tom is one of 12 siblings.

Sibling count: Tom, Sam, and 10 others

• Tom De Koning is one of 12 siblings.
• Sam De Koning, two years younger, plays for Geelong.
• The other siblings are not part of the public AFL conversation.

The number has followed Tom since his draft year. A 12-child family producing two AFL players is rare, and the “how many brothers” question keeps resurfacing in fan searches.

Family background and sport involvement

The public coverage of the family stops at the two brothers’ football careers. The wider family stays out of the spotlight.

Why this matters: the sibling question is a stand-in for “who is this player beyond the stats?” — and the honest answer is that most of De Koning’s personal life is private, which makes the twin myth easier to spread.

Who is Tom De Koning?

A Geelong Falcons product who became one of the AFL’s most physically imposing ruckmen, spent seven seasons at Carlton and now starts a new chapter at St Kilda.

Early life and junior career

• Drafted by Carlton with pick 30 in the 2017 AFL national draft.
• Came through the Geelong Falcons development program.
• Recruited as a ruckman with scope to develop as a forward.

De Koning arrived at Carlton as a raw tall with obvious physical tools. At 201 cm, he had the frame for ruck work but needed time to develop the craft. Carlton was willing to invest that time, and the club’s patience shaped the player who later became a premier free-agent target.

AFL career at Carlton (2018–2024)

• AFL debut: 2018.
• Established as a regular ruckman: around 2020.
• Games through 2025: 120.
• 2025 Brownlow votes: 7.

His Carlton career was steady rather than spectacular. He became the club’s primary ruck option, showed he could push forward to create mismatches, and produced the kind of highlight-reel marks that kept his name in free-agency discussions from the moment the 2025 season began.

His 2025 form was the strongest of his career at the right time. Seven Brownlow votes and a string of influential games gave St Kilda the evidence it needed to pursue him — and gave Carlton a compensation calculation that ended with a first-round pick.

Move to St Kilda and role

At St Kilda, De Koning slots in as the primary ruckman with the ability to rest forward. His role gives the Saints a 201 cm target and a contested-marking presence, which is exactly the profile the reported seven-year offer was built around.

The pattern: Carlton developed him, St Kilda paid for him, and the next phase of his career will be measured against the size of the offer that pulled him away.

That peak, not the contract, is what the next phase is about.

Timeline: from the Geelong Falcons to St Kilda

• 16 July 1999 — Tom De Koning born.
• 2017 — Drafted by Carlton with pick 30.
• 2018 — AFL debut.
• 2020 — Established as a regular ruckman.
• 13 March 2025 — AFL.com.au reports De Koning weighing a lucrative seven-year deal at Carlton against a bigger offer from St Kilda (AFL.com.au (the league’s official news site)).
• 26 August 2025 — Carlton confirms De Koning is leaving and says it will not match St Kilda’s offer (Carlton FC (club statement)).
• 3 October 2025 — Paperwork lodged and move confirmed; Carlton receives a first-round compensation selection, described as a top-10 pick at the time (ABC News (Australia’s national broadcaster)).

The pattern: a gradual climb through the first five seasons, then one free-agency decision that compressed years of roster planning into a single October afternoon.

What’s confirmed and what’s still unclear

After eight months of reporting, the line is clear: the biographical facts are solid, the contract numbers are not.

Confirmed

• Tom and Sam De Koning are not twins. Tom was born on 16 July 1999; Sam was born in 2001.
• Tom is one of 12 siblings.
• De Koning moved to St Kilda as a free agent in the October 2025 period.

What’s unclear

• The exact contract value: reported at close to $12 million over seven years, never officially confirmed.
• De Koning’s father’s name: not widely publicized.
• Whether the reported deal makes him the highest-paid player in the competition — a claim that has not been independently verified (Fox Sports (Australian sports broadcaster)).

The distinction matters because it separates what the clubs have said from what the market has speculated. Every confirmed item above is in the public record; every unclear item is a detail that only the clubs or the family could settle.

What the key figures said

“I’m absolutely pumped to be joining St Kilda.”

Tom De Koning, quoted by ABC News (Australia’s national broadcaster)

De Koning joined the club as its second free-agency signing on the opening day of the trade and free-agency period.

St Kilda FC (2025 Trade and Free Agency Wrap)

De Koning’s “absolutely pumped” and St Kilda’s checklist-style wrap describe the same moment from different altitudes: the player’s excitement on the ground, the club’s process in the paperwork. Both are part of the public record of the move.

The move is done, but the stakes are now measurable. St Kilda gets a 201 cm ruckman in his prime years and absorbs the risk of a contract reported at close to $12 million over seven seasons; Carlton gets a first-round compensation pick and a clear path to rebuild its tall stocks. For St Kilda, the bet is simple: De Koning must become the dominant tall the offer assumed he can be — or the club will spend the next seven seasons paying for potential. For Carlton, the choice is equally clear: use the compensation pick on a tall who can replace him, or watch the 2025 exit become the one that got away.

Related reading: Club statement: Tom De Koning · 2025 Trade and Free Agency Wrap

Frequently asked questions

Related reading

• Club statement: Tom De Koning — Carlton FC
• 2025 Trade and Free Agency Wrap — St Kilda FC