Ben Keays
Ben Keays | |||
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Keays in April 2018 | |||
Personal information | |||
Full name | Ben Keays | ||
Date of birth | (1997-02-23) 23 February 1997 (age 27) | ||
Place of birth | Melbourne, Victoria | ||
Original team(s) | Morningside(QAFL)/Redland (NEAFL)/Brisbane Lions Academy | ||
Draft | No. 24, 2015 national draft (Academy selection) | ||
Height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | ||
Weight | 89 kg (196 lb) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder / forward | ||
Club information | |||
Current club | Adelaide | ||
Number | 2 | ||
Playing career1 | |||
Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
2016–2019 | Brisbane Lions | 30 (11) | |
2020– | Adelaide | 99 (68) | |
Total | 129 (79) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 17, 2024. | |||
Career highlights | |||
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com |
Ben Keays (born 23 February 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). His great-grandfather Fred Keays represented both Fitzroy and Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Early life
Born in Melbourne, Keays participated in the Auskick program at Hampton, Victoria.[1] Keays moved to Brisbane at five years of age[2] and continued playing Auskick at the Morningside Australian Football Club.[1] He attended St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace throughout his schooling years.[3] His great grandfather, Fred, played football for Fitzroy and Collingwood between 1919 and 1922 and served in both World War I and II.[4] His great uncle, Desmond, also played football for Fitzroy[5] while his uncle, Terry, played for Collingwood and Richmond. Ben began playing junior football for the Morningside Panthers[6] and was placed in the Brisbane Lions Academy at the age of 14.[7] He was selected to represent Queensland in the 2014 and 2015 AFL Under 18 Championships,[8][9][10] and was selected in the 2014 and 2015 All-Australian teams.[11][12] He also captained Queensland to their first division 2 title in nine years at the 2015 AFL Under 18 Championships[13] and won the 2015 Hunter Harrison Medal for his performances across the three games.[14][15][16]
Keays was recruited by the Brisbane Lions with their third selection and 24th overall in the 2015 national draft.[17] He was the second academy selection for Brisbane after they matched a bid by the Western Bulldogs.[18]
AFL career
Keays made his AFL debut for Brisbane in Round 6, 2016, against the Sydney Swans.[19] He won the Andrew Ireland Medal as best afield in the 2017 NEAFL Grand final, amassing 30 disposals, 9 tackles and 2 goals.[20] He was delisted at the conclusion of the 2019 AFL season. Keays was later picked up by the Adelaide Crows at Pick 7 in the 2019 AFL Rookie Draft.[21]
Keays enjoyed a breakout 2020 AFL season, playing 16 games for the Crows. He finished 5th in the Malcolm Blight Medal and won the Players Trademark award.
He received competition-wide recognition with an impressive 2021 AFL season which was rewarded with a 2nd-place finish in the Malcolm Blight Medal.[22] Keays shocked the AFL with an elite disposal average of 28.1 throughout the home-and-away season as well as polling 11 votes in the 2021 Brownlow Medal.[23] In October 2021, he signed a contract which would keep him at the Crows until the end of 2024.[24]
In an August 2023 match against the Sydney Swans, Keays had a shot for goal late in the game that was controversially adjudged to hit the post, but video evidence deemed this incorrect. On top of this, a video review wasn't called for.[clarification needed] The goal would have given the Crows the lead with just a minute left, but the Swans were able to run down the clock and win by a point. This result eliminated Adelaide from finals calculations with one round of the regular season remaining.[25]
Statistics
Updated to the end of round 17, 2024.[26]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
2016 | Brisbane Lions | 1 | 16 | 4 | 8 | 60 | 22 | 182 | 22 | 63 | 0.25 | 0.50 | 3.75 | 7.63 | 11.38 | 1.38 | 3.94 | 0 |
2017 | Brisbane Lions | 1 | 10 | 6 | 3 | 70 | 30 | 151 | 30 | 41 | 0.60 | 0.30 | 7.00 | 8.10 | 15.10 | 3.00 | 4.10 | 0 |
2018 | Brisbane Lions | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 29 | 5 | 8 | 0.50 | 0.50 | 5.50 | 9.00 | 14.50 | 2.50 | 4.00 | 0 |
2019 | Brisbane Lions | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 7 | 27 | 7 | 6 | 0.00 | 0.50 | 7.50 | 6.00 | 13.50 | 3.50 | 3.00 | 0 |
2020[a] | Adelaide | 28 | 16 | 3 | 5 | 147 | 118 | 265 | 47 | 53 | 0.19 | 0.31 | 9.19 | 7.28 | 16.56 | 2.94 | 3.31 | 1 |
2021 | Adelaide | 2 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 350 | 269 | 619 | 82 | 133 | 0.55 | 0.36 | 15.91 | 12.23 | 28.14 | 2.73 | 6.05 | 11 |
2022 | Adelaide | 2 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 315 | 271 | 586 | 73 | 106 | 0.45 | 0.55 | 14.32 | 12.32 | 26.64 | 3.32 | 4.82 | 11 |
2023 | Adelaide | 2 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 218 | 223 | 441 | 72 | 87 | 0.96 | 0.83 | 9.48 | 9.70 | 19.17 | 3.13 | 3.78 | 2 |
2024 | Adelaide | 2 | 16 | 21 | 10 | 248 | 91 | 241 | 68 | 43 | 1.31 | 0.63 | 9.25 | 5.81 | 15.06 | 4.25 | 2.69 | TBC |
Career | 129 | 79 | 68 | 1334 | 1207 | 2541 | 406 | 540 | 0.61 | 0.53 | 10.34 | 9.36 | 19.70 | 3.15 | 4.19 | 25 |
Notes
- ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
References
- ^ a b AFL Record. Round 9, 2022. pg 72
- ^ "Ben Keays has plenty of footballing history in his family as he makes his AFL debut". Archived from the original on 9 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ Ben Keays says a surprising selection in a state team turned him into an AFL prospect
- ^ "Tough love: The lasting legacy of Fred Keays". Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ "My ANZAC Story: Ben Keays". Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ "18 days until the draft: Ben Keays". Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ "Proud young Lion wants the Gabba rocking again". Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ Sport, City South News (17 July 2014). "Ben has Keays to big future in AFL". Quest Newspapers. Queensland, Australia. Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "Queenslander Keays thrills in five-goal win over Tassie". 21 June 2014. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ^ Quayle, Emma (24 January 2015). "Academy teens get a taste of life in the AFL". The Age. Archived from the original on 17 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ^ Landsberger, Sam (27 January 2015). "AFL clubs to pay higher draft price for father-son, academy stars". Herald Sun.
- ^ "Exciting draft prospects Christian Petracca and Patrick McCartin among 12 Victorians to earn All-Australian honours". Herald Sun. Victoria, Australia. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ "Division Two champions – Queensland vs. NSW/ACT recap". Brisbane: AFL Queensland. 2 July 2015. p. 5. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
- ^ "2015 Under 18 All Australians". Fox Sports. Melbourne. 4 July 2015. p. 5. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ^ "Ben Keays wins Hunter-Harrison medal". Fox Sports. Melbourne. 2 July 2015. p. 5. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
- ^ "Queensland U18s win title against wayward NSW/ACT". Melbourne: Australian Football League. 2 July 2015. p. 5. Archived from the original on 4 July 2015. Retrieved 2 July 2015.
- ^ "Profile: Ben Keays". lions.com.au. Bigpond. 24 November 2015. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
- ^ "The Day Ben Keays Had Waited For". lions.com.au. Bigpond. 26 November 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
- ^ "Ben Keays is set to make his AFL debut for Brisbane Lions against Sydney Swans". Archived from the original on 13 June 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ "Around the state leagues: Who's staking a finals claim?". afl.com.au. Bigpond. 10 September 2017. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
- ^ "Lions make further list changes". 19 October 2019. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- ^ "Transformed Crow edges ex-Lion to win second Malcolm Blight Medal". 28 August 2021. Archived from the original on 15 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
- ^ "Brownlow Medal results - Every AFL club, every player, every vote". 19 September 2021. Archived from the original on 1 February 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
- ^ "Keays extends at West Lakes". 28 October 2021. Archived from the original on 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
- ^ "Gillon McLachlan blames 'human error' in controversial Crows behind call, admitting Ben Keays shot should have been a goal". ABC Australia. Archived from the original on 19 August 2023. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
- ^ "Ben Keays". AFL Tables. Archived from the original on 6 December 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
External links
- Ben Keays's profile on the official website of the Brisbane Lions
- Ben Keays's playing statistics from AFL Tables
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