AFL superstar Kysaiah Pickett has flown to the Northern Territory to deal with a deeply “sensitive issue” just days away from Melbourne’s Round 1 clash with St Kilda on Sunday.

Pickett, 24, flew out on Tuesday with the club revealing he has broken up with his partner and mother of his child, Ardu Cubillo.

Pickett is reportedly supportive of Cubillo’s move back to Darwin and understands it is important for her to be around family during the emotional time.

“The family dynamic is super important. He’s gone back to Darwin and won’t be at training today, and he’s missed a couple of big sessions,” said Melbourne great Garry Lyon on SEN.

Lyon received a statement from the club, and shared the details.

“Kozzie Pickett has flown back to Darwin yesterday,” Lyon said.

“He has some family issues, separation from his partner, they’ve also got a little girl.”

Lyon said the club was supporting Pickett and wanted to make sure he remained “connected to the family while still getting the job done” on the football field.

There are concerns, however, he may miss Sunday’s clash.

“I understand that the footy club has spoken to him and understand the difficult situation he’s found himself in and they’re going to be pretty flexible for him to try and stay connected with his daughter,” Lyon said.

“This a sensitive issue. I’m just telling you what’s going on. I can’t interpret this.

“He went to Darwin on Tuesday with the club’s blessing.

“The expectation is that he’ll return on Thursday. He’s missed a couple of sessions (wth the group) but he’s done those sessions remotely.

“The great hope is that he’ll be back with the group for Friday’s main training session.

“These are difficult times when there’s families and partnerships and breakups. But that’s why Kozzy won’t be at training (on Wednesday).”

Lyon said the club was hopeful that Pickett would feature in the Round 1 game, but there was still some doubt.

“The unknown in all of this is how it affects some people,” Lyon said.

“Some people can deal with it, others need some time ... of course you’re absolutely hopeful that he’s there for the game against St Kilda, but you don’t really know.”

New Melbourne coach Steven King was very confident Pickett would be fine for Sunday.

“We were pretty proactive with it,” King said.

“Kozzy needed to get back for family reasons and I fully support any father at our club to make sure they get to support their family.

“Kozzy will be back tomorrow, he’ll do our T2 (main training session two) and play.”

King said he wanted to provide flexibility for all staff and players and that family was “equally or more important” than just a football game.

“We’ll give Kozzy all the time he needs to take care of his family and his daughter and he’ll be fine. We’ll work that with him throughout the season as it progresses but he’ll play,” King said.

Pickett signed a whopping seven-year contract extension with Melbourne last year, while earning his first All-Australian gong.

He is crucial for his team’s chances to rise up the ladder after the exit of other midfield stars in Christian Petracca and Clayton Oliver and the injury to veteran star Jack Viney.

His new contract is reportedly worth around $12–$12.5 million over nine years.