Ben Keays (born 23 February 1997) is a professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er playing for the

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). His great-grandfather Fred Keays represented both and in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL).

Early life

Born in Melbourne, Keays participated in the

Auskick Auskick is a program designed to teach the basic skills of Australian football to children aged between 5 and 12. Auskick is a non-contact variant of the sport. It began in Australia and is now a nationwide non-selective program. It has incre ...

program at Hampton, Victoria.AFL Record. Round 9, 2022. pg 72 Keays moved to Brisbane at five years of age and continued playing Auskick at the Morningside Australian Football Club. He attended

St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace (colloquially known as Gregory Terrace, Terrace or GT) is an independent Catholic primary and secondary day school for boys, located in Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Found ...

throughout his schooling years. His great grandfather,

Fred Fred or FRED may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Fred ...

, played football for Fitzroy and Collingwood between 1919 and 1922 and served in both

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and II. His great uncle, Desmond, also played football for Fitzroy while his uncle,

Terry Terry is a unisex diminutive nickname for the given names Teresa or Theresa (feminine) or Terence (given name), Terence, Terrance (masculine). People Male * Terry A. Canales, American politician * Terry A. Doughty (born 1959), American district ...

, played for Collingwood and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. Ben began playing junior football for the Morningside Panthers and was placed in the

Brisbane Lions Academy The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the reigning AFL premiers, having won the ...

at the age of 14. He was selected to represent

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

in the 2014 and 2015 AFL Under 18 Championships, and was selected in the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and 2015 All-Australian teams. He also captained Queensland to their first division 2 title in nine years at the 2015 AFL Under 18 Championships and won the 2015 Hunter Harrison Medal for his performances across the three games. Keays was recruited by the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

with their third selection and 24th overall in the 2015 national draft. He was the second academy selection for Brisbane after they matched a bid by the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

AFL career

Brisbane Lions

Keays made his AFL debut for Brisbane in Round 6, 2016, against the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

. He won the Andrew Ireland Medal as best afield in the 2017 NEAFL Grand final, amassing 30 disposals, 9 tackles and 2 goals. He was delisted at the conclusion of the

2019 AFL season The 2019 AFL season was the 123rd season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season feature ...

. Keays was later picked up by the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Football Club, nicknamed the Crows, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Adelaide, South Australia that was founded in 1990. The Crows have fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since 199 ...

at pick 7 in the 2019 rookie draft.

Adelaide Crows

Keays enjoyed a breakout

2020 AFL season The 2020 AFL season was the 124th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featur ...

, 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 The 2021 AFL season was the 125th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest-level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season feature ...

which was rewarded with a 2nd-place finish in the Malcolm Blight Medal. 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. In October 2021, he signed a contract which would keep him at the Crows until the end of 2024. Following the 2022 season, Keays was awarded with the Dr Brian Sando, OAM Award, given to the Adelaide Crow most professional and prepared throughout the season. In an August

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

match against , Keays had a shot for goal late in the game that was controversially adjudged to hit the post, but video evidence, which was only reviewed after the decision was made, deemed this incorrect. 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. Keays' kick has become a benchmark for what the AFL is attempting to avoid, with an increasing number of scores being reviewed throughout every game. Keays became one of three vice-captains of the Adelaide Crows prior to the 2024 season, joining Brodie Smith and

Reilly O'Brien Reilly O'Brien (born 20 August 1995) is an Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A Malcolm Blight Medal winner in 2020 AFL season, 2020, he is currently Adelaide's first-cho ...

. Just months later, he extended his contract with the club until the end of 2027. In July 2024, Keays broke Adelaide's club record for the most consecutive games played with 100 games, overtaking the record 99 games previously held by Scott Thompson. Keays has not missed a game since his club debut in 2020. Just two weeks after a career-best four goals against his former side

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, Keays bested himself by kicking five goals from 22 disposals in what was a clear best-on-ground performance in a two-point victory against . His efforts throughout the 2024 season were rewarded with him winning the Malcolm Blight Medal, the award for the player deemed best and fairest of the Adelaide Football Club. He shared the award with club captain Jordan Dawson, with both players polling 107 votes. Keays also won the Members' MVP Award and the Dr Brian Sando, OAM Trophy.

Statistics

''Updated to the end of 2024''. , - ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, , , , 1 , 16 , , 4 , , 8 , , 60 , , 22 , , 182 , , 22 , , 63 , , 0.3 , , 0.5 , , 3.8 , , 7.6 , , 11.4 , , 1.4 , , 3.9 , , 0 , - ,

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , , , 1 , 10 , , 6 , , 3 , , 70 , , 30 , , 151 , , 30 , , 41 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 7.0 , , 8.1 , , 15.1 , , 3.0 , , 4.1 , , 0 , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , , , 1 , 2 , , 1 , , 1 , , 11 , , 5 , , 29 , , 5 , , 8 , , 0.5 , , 0.5 , , 5.5 , , 9.0 , , 14.5 , , 2.5 , , 4.0 , , 0 , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , , , 1 , 2 , , 0 , , 2 , , 15 , , 7 , , 27 , , 7 , , 6 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , , 7.5 , , 6.0 , , 13.5 , , 3.5 , , 3.0 , , 0 , - ,

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, , , , 28 , 16 , , 3 , , 5 , , 147 , , 118 , , 265 , , 47 , , 53 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 9.2 , , 7.3 , , 16.6 , , 2.9 , , 3.3 , , 1 , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , , , 2 , 22 , , 12 , , 8 , , 350 , , 269 , , 619 , , 82 , , 133 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 15.9 , , 12.2 , , 28.1 , , 2.7 , , 6.1 , , 11 , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , , , 2 , 22 , , 10 , , 12 , , 315 , , 271 , , 586 , , 73 , , 106 , , 0.5 , , 0.6 , , 14.3 , , 12.3 , , 26.6 , , 3.3 , , 4.8 , , 11 , - ,

, , , , 2 , 23 , , 22 , , 19 , , 218 , , 223 , , 441 , , 72 , , 87 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 9.5 , , 9.7 , , 19.2 , , 3.1 , , 3.8 , , 2 , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, , , , 2 , 23 , , 34 , , 20 , , 225 , , 148 , , 373 , , 88 , , 83 , , 1.5 , , 0.9 , , 9.8 , , 6.4 , , 16.2 , , 3.8 , , 3.6 , , 4 , - class=sortbottom ! colspan=3 , Career ! 136 !! 92 !! 78 !! 1411 !! 1262 !! 2673 !! 426 !! 580 !! 0.7 !! 0.6 !! 10.4 !! 9.3 !! 19.7 !! 3.1 !! 4.3 !! 29

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keays, Ben Living people 1997 births People educated at St Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace Redland Football Club players Morningside Australian Football Club players Brisbane Lions players Adelaide Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Brisbane Australian rules footballers from Queensland 21st-century Australian sportsmen