#44 - Lachlan Keeffe

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Lachlan Keeffe #44
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Born: 14 April 1990
Height: 204cm
Weight: 94kg
Junior Club: -
Senior Club: -
Schools: Marist College (Ashgrove)
Regional Selection: -
Queensland Selection: U18 (2008)
Draft Details: Unregistered Player Selection - 2009 Rookie Draft
AFL Debut: - Watch this space!!

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To me Lachie Keeffe is one of the more interesting stories in this Collingwood team. The former middle distance runner, cricket player and junior soccer talent from Gympie in Queensland hadn't kicked a football in anger until October 2007. By January 2008 recruitment guru Derek Hine had cunningly used a draft rule loophole to sign Keeffe outside of the draft system. The rule originally designed to help clubs draft international players allows sides to draft players who have not been registered with a club for three years. Keeffe hadn't and we were the beneficiaries. It was Keeffes incredible athletic ability that moved Hine to draft Keeffe off the back 5 appearances for his High School football team Marist College. Keeffe moves more like a midfielder than the ruck prospect he was originally drafted as. Remarkable considering he stands at a height of 204cms. With the blonde hair, the graceful movement and the height it is hard not to draw comparisons to former Collingwood great Peter Moore.

At VFL level Keeffe is carving out a reputation as a talented centre half back. He is a monster in the air and damaging with the ball in his hands. A breakthrough year in 2010 followed up with an impressive NAB Cup campaign has seen Keeffe make a genuine push for his senior debut. With the recent trend of AFL sides playing versatile second rucks who are dangerous forward Keeffe is in the unique position to potentially carve out a niche defending this scenario. Again it seems we are ahead of the pack. Browns unfortunate season ending knee injury means that Keeffe is first off the rank if one of Reid or Tarrant miss a game. I suspect we will see Keeffe in the senior side sooner rather than later.

Watch this space.

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After a strong start to the 2011 season where Keeffe was pushing for senior selection on the back of an impressive NAB cup campaign his recent form has been disapointing. He was ordinary in the round 3 loss to Werribee in which he was outpointed in defense. His luck was no better in round 4 against Bendigo which saw him miss most of the game after a heavy knock to the head in which he sufferred suspected facial injuries.

 

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Keeffes suspected head injury was evidently not as severe as first feared. He was listed as a concussion on the club website and made it up for the game against reigning premier North Ballarat.

In a one point upset win against arguably the strongest side in the VFL Keeffe was considered amongst the bests if not BOG. He beat a quality opponent in Matt Tyler, was strong in the air and neat with his rebound from defense.

Here are some comments on his game from the VFL thread:

Keeffe was best on ground, make no mistake we've got a player in him and what a bargain price he came at. Full credit to our recruiting and development department.

Keefe - solid as a rock, killed his opponent all day, sublime skills with both left and right foot... but injured his groin in last qtr, he came back on briefly but was very restricted... bye has come at a good time

Keeffe. B.O.G. Dominant. Ready to play AFL any time. Would be happy for him to come in for L.Brown if we think he can hold up for 10-15% ruck time.

Lets hope that his latest injury concern is nothing too serious. But it is great to hear that Keeffe stood up when it really counted in a big game. It shows character especially considering his form has been a bit off and he had had some injury concerns of late.

 

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Lachy Keeffe featured on ctv:

[YOUTUBE]Fjoqfx9iIoc&feature=player_embedded#at=147[/YOUTUBE]

Doing his best to look like Randal from Clerks:

[YOUTUBE]04vdyn_payg[/YOUTUBE]

 

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The 10th Letter gives a detailed run down of Keeffe Round 5 game vs North Ballarat.

23. Lachlan Keeffe

I really looked forward to doing Keeffe’s write-up, because he was terrific on the weekend and from our listed players was the clear best on ground. After a nasty knock relegated Keeffe to the sidelines last week, he was clearly chomping at the bit to have an impact against North Ballarat.

There was an insightful article on Ben Reid a couple of weeks back, where he mentioned how Max Hudghton told him you have to despise losing a contest as a defender. Keeffe epitomises this approach, as he’s a real competitor and heads into every contest with intent and determination.

His work rate is phenomenal; for a guy his size to cover the amount of ground that he does and put in repeated chasing efforts is a real credit to him. Took several good contested marks, he’s got some sure hands when in the box seat. He also gets some good hang time when leaping for marks, he tends to judge it well and float with good timing and arm extension -- which at his height makes it near impossible for his opponent.

A couple of instances worth mentioning:

- In the second quarter, pushed up the field to effect a spoil in a pack contest across our half-forward line. Now, I would personally give him license to try and take the mark in the position he was in and considering where the play was unfolding, but you can’t fault him for playing the percentages and he spoiled with purpose. The noteworthy part however, was that North Ballarat won the consequent contest and rebounded quickly, shooting the ball deep within the forward line where - incredibly - Keeffe had made ground back and intercepted with a lovely relieving mark. Just an example of his work rate and ability to cover the field.

- In the last (to the best of my memory) he scrambled for a loose ball competing against two or three smaller opponents - one of which had a head start on him - on North Ballarat’s half-forward line close to the boundary. Showed a huge amount of concentration and smarts to play the situation brilliantly with little space or support, calling upon his soccer background to toe poke the ball around without over-committing or losing his feet. Managed to eventually win the ball before the noose tightened, bought himself some space with his dual-sidedness and got a left foot kick out of there. North Ballarat took the mark across their defensive side of the wing, but the effort whilst being outnumbered drew much deserved applause from the stands and bought us the time to setup across the back line.

He also deserves credit for returning to the field after pulling up very sore from a contest in the last quarter, to try and straighten us up so we could hold on for the last few minutes. After losing Nathan Brown early we’ve been rightly concerned about our defensive stocks and despite the fact that he’s still working on his game, anyone who watched Keeffe go about things on the weekend would feel a little more comfortable in what we’ve got in reserve.

 

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The 10th Letters latest write up of Keeffe from last weeks VFL action.

With Adelaides tall forward line of Tippett, McKernan and potentially Walker after kicking 7 in the SANFL last week Keeffe may be a chance at getting his debut again this week. His selection may be reliant on whether Walker plays and the availability of Leigh Brown who looks likely to miss. I wouldn't like to see him thrown into the ruck at AFL level but he might be needed if Brown misses. Maxwell and Johnson are returning from injury while Toovey will miss. Thats two two defensive inclusions with one omission. It will be an interesting week of selection.

23. Lachlan Keeffe

I love this kid and the way he goes about his football. He was played in the ruck for extended periods today, probably due to the lack of an appropriate match up down back. It was pretty clear that the ruck isn’t really his bag, at least not at this point in time, but he continued to compete and whilst Blake was the standout ruck of the day, Keeffe still got busy around the ground.

He’s had a lot better matches so far this season, but he was given a different role this week and continued to apply himself. Provided a target around the ground and displayed good hands in wet conditions. Had a forgettable moment when he was called to play on and - in what has become an unfamiliar sight - he failed to get around the man. Worked forward at times and spotted up Ceglar with a perfect 30 metre pass that had little to no margin for error; unfortunately Ceglar missed what would normally be a certain goal for him.

I’ve commented about Keeffe’s athleticism plenty and I’ll do so again. He’s got seriously exceptional pace for a big man, watching him out run smaller opponents has become a regular occurrence. He almost snagged himself a goal today by outrunning several opponents to a loose ball bouncing towards open goal, his sliding soccer attempt just went shy of the post.

From what I saw today, he’s definitely a key position player rather than a back-up ruck option. He looked better at stoppages and throw ins than he did at the centre bounce, so he could still definitely provide some ruck work when the ball is in his zone. Would like to see him work on his rucking a little more though, it’s definitely the missing piece from his game at the moment.

 

[Bomber Man]

So Keeffe got a run forward to reasonable effect in rounds 17 and particularly 18, is that a possibility for his future, or are Dawes and Cloke a lock?

If not, is Keeffe the likely Leigh Brown replacement "utility backman", or do you think he could he end up as a ruck? He certainly has the height, not sure he has a ruckman's game though.

 

[Quicky]

So Keeffe got a run forward to reasonable effect in rounds 17 and particularly 18, is that a possibility for his future, or are Dawes and Cloke a lock?

If not, is Keeffe the likely Leigh Brown replacement "utility backman", or do you think he could he end up as a ruck? He certainly has the height, not sure he has a ruckman's game though.

Keeffe got a run there out of KPF desperation. He isn't a key forward. Cloke and Dawes are most certainly a lock. But they have no competition. Literally. Unless you count the KPD come forward Keeffe as competition.

 

[Bomber Man]

Not a ruck either? I imagine Witts will be the planned future there...

 

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Not a ruck either? I imagine Witts will be the planned future there...

I think he could play a role in the ruck but it will never be his position. He is a more than handy KPD though.