Why no love for Lachy Keeffe?

[Pera]

I love Lachy Keeffe when he is on. He has the lot. But he drops his head too easily. And that is close to a terminal character trait in a defender, particularly a key defender. He is 24/5 years old now and I wonder if this is something that will be ironed at his age.

Bang on. Definitely a confidence player.

When he gets beat, he gets destroyed. When he wins his matchup, he wins it convincingly.

 

[Winston_Smith]

Bang on. Definitely a confidence player.

Some of this has to come down to mentoring. Bucks preaches internal motivation trumps external motivation, but our recent confidence and disposal issues make me wonder about our mentoring and development. I hope Keeffe is being given the encouragement to take the game on and keep his chin up no matter what, but the fact that he's dropped every other week makes me question that.

 

[rustyg70]

Love him.
Give the bloke some time.
He will repay us in spades.
Don't know of too many KPD that are his height or has his mobility and foot skills.
Throw Brown back in and he will come on in leaps and bounds.

I'll go A: Keefe will be a very good player for us for a long time.
Lock it in thanks Eddie.

 

[Robroy22]

A lot of the detrimental things being said about LK were being said about one Jake Carlisle a few months ago. But his club and his coaches persisted with him and you all saw the proof in their vision last Sunday. LK is coming from a long way back in terms of footy background and overcoming serious injury but he has all the tools to become a very good AFL defender (and maybe even a swingman in time). We just need to give the bloke a go.

 

[Mateyman]

A lot of the detrimental things being said about LK were being said about one Jake Carlisle a few months ago. But his club and his coaches persisted with him and you all saw the proof in their vision last Sunday. LK is coming from a long way back in terms of footy background and overcoming serious injury but he has all the tools to become a very good AFL defender (and maybe even a swingman in time). We just need to give the bloke a go.

He has hardly proven himself. His only really good game was last week when he was playing on an injured Nick Maxwell.

 

[Robroy22]

Glass half full kinda guy huh?

 

[Markfs]

Just from the "eyeball test", I feel he is a limited defender. I think he is a decent defender who will always be around the fringes of the 22, but I dont think he will ever be great. I think he will be part of the rotation with Frosty and Nate Brown (both of whom are ahead of him) but will still get games depending on opposition - and actually would do better if not relied to be our key CHB or FB.

I agree that Nathan Brown is ahead of Keeffe in the ratings. Nate has this trick of never playing. Its hard to bag a guy who never plays

 

[ottoman]

A few weeks back when talking about Witts, Buckley said that there was gold in the 15% we are not seeing at the moment.
I think the same applies with Keeffe. From what I have seen I think there is the potential for him to be a very good player. However his mental strength does bother me. He does tend to sook it up and drop his bundle when things don't go well.

 

[jmac70]

Keeffe will be a ten year player for the Pies.

 

[Mateyman]

A few weeks back when talking about Witts, Buckley said that there was gold in the 15% we are not seeing at the moment.
I think the same applies with Keeffe. From what I have seen I think there is the potential for him to be a very good player. However his mental strength does bother me. He does tend to sook it up and drop his bundle when things don't go well.

He doesn't "sook it up". More loses confidence and goes into his shell.

 

[sr36]

Some of this has to come down to mentoring. Bucks preaches internal motivation trumps external motivation, but our recent confidence and disposal issues make me wonder about our mentoring and development. I hope Keeffe is being given the encouragement to take the game on and keep his chin up no matter what, but the fact that he's dropped every other week makes me question that.

Just to add, individual form slumps have been unacceptably long under Bucks. When players have lost confidence, they don't appear to have been able to overcome it Before he became coach, my biggest concern with Bucks was that he was the wrong personality type for a coach. To me, he has always appeared too single-minded and error focused to relate to, manage and get the best out of the variety of personalities found at an AFL club. Since he became coach, my concerns have increased.

 

[suspect footskills]

I really like Keeffe, he tries his arse off and he's got some very good attributes. I just think he needs to learn his limitations, play to his strengths and not get sucked into standing with his opponent one on one as he is often too easily pushed away just as the ball is dropping. I think the coaches should help him out here too though and leave the gorillas to Frost and Brown.
He moves extremely well for a guy his size, reads the drop of the ball quite well and has a long, raking kick. I think he would do well in a similar role to that which Maxy played and would like to see how he would fare if trialled there. It'd be strange seeing a guy his height in that role but mobility really isn't an issue and his kicking would make his rebound a problem for the opposition.
In any case he's only just started playing regularly so he should be given more of a chance to show his wares before being written off. Hopefully I'm wrong about his 1one1 ability and he'll develop into a really well rounded defender much like Reid. One can hope.

 

[MeisterBot]

Concentration and confidence seems to be an issue with Keeffe. He loses touch with his opponent for a few minutes and his confidence is shattered if they feed it to the opponent for a quick goal or two.

Physically he has all the tools. I've always seen him as a taller, lankier Reid which is why I've never had issues with keeping Reid forward. Keeffe can become a very good rebounder. He reads the play well, is a decent mark, very quick for his size and good off both feet. Probably not as strong in defensive 1v1s as you'd like, but to be honest, Reid isn't either. Needs to be given the license to read the play and intercept like Reid was in 2011.

I really like Keeffe and think he is a potential 200 gamer with us. I don't know how the Frost/Brown dynamic will work out, but I do see Keeffe as integral to our backline structure.

 

[domin8tors]

confidence player indeed, once he gets a goal kicked on him early he can't seem to fight back into the contest and ends up getting 4+ goals kicked on him. shows that he has some quality about him however he appears to lack game sense at times. this may come though with another 20 odd games under his belt.

 

[MyManLynch]

He will play this weekend & has an opportunity to redeem himself regarding Adelaide (last match).
He is still learning & can only get better.

 

[THATSGOLD]

I rate his mobility for his height.
Defensively he seems ok, but not strong one on one against the bigger guys like Hawkins. I'd like to see Reid down there to help him out.

 

[Kilmo]

Bumping this thread. Everyone needs to stop the Keeffe hate in all the other threads.

The amount of times the ball gets catapulted back into our defence time and time again when someone up field has passed it straight to the opposition, just seconds after being cleared from defence, and guys like Keeffe have to saddle up and get ready to go again.

I think Keeffe has had a great season considering how depleted our backline has been. He has had one or two bad games, true, but for someone who has had <30 games under his belt for most of the season, he has acquitted himself well and I think he stood up in the Adelaide game yesterday. Sure his kickouts went awry from time to time but what annoyed me more about that was the rest of the team not moving, leading or presenting an option for him.

Anyway, stop the reckless hate on our no.23 you buffoons.

 

[TradeDraft]

In the Leadership Group but he show not much of it on-field and is not in the best 22. As he been the 1st KPD to be Dropped to the VFL