Mark Keane (footballer)

Mark Keane
Keane with Collingwood's VFL side in July 2021
Personal information
Date of birth (2000-03-17) 17 March 2000 (age 24)
Original team(s) Cork GAA, Ballygiblin GAA, Mitchelstown GAA
Draft 2019 rookie draft category B selection
Height 194 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight 92 kg (203 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current club Adelaide
Number 48
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2019–2021 Collingwood 5 (0)
2023– Adelaide 26 (0)
Total 31 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Mark Keane (born 17 March 2000) is an Irish professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Adelaide Football Club after previously playing for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Early life and junior sports

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Keane grew up in Mitchelstown in County Cork, Ireland.[1] He played hurling and Gaelic football in Cork and represented Cork at U20 level in football. Keane was scouted by an Australian Football League recruiter while playing for North Cork in 2017 and tested at the 2017 AFL European Combine in Dublin where he was offered a contract with the Collingwood Football Club.[2]

AFL career

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Collingwood

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Keane joined Collingwood as a Category B rookie in 2018 after a two-week trial at the club.[3] He made his debut in the club's round 9 match in the 2020 AFL season against Fremantle, where the Magpies lost by 12 points.[4] In January 2022, Keane left Collingwood and the AFL to play Gaelic Football with Mitchelstown GAA in Ireland.[5]

Adelaide Crows

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Ultimately, Keane returned to Australia and signed with Adelaide in the 2023 pre-season supplemental signing period (SPP).[6] He made his debut with the Adelaide Crows in Round 20 in 2023 with a Showdown win against Port Adelaide.[7] Keane had a break-out year in 2024, headlined by a dominant defensive performance where he had 26 disposals and 11 marks in the Crows' loss to Fremantle.[8] Keane missed only two games for the season, and despite rumours that he would request a trade to return to Collingwood, Keane re-committed to Adelaide beyond his contracted year of 2025,[9] extending until 2028.[10]

GAA career

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Keane returned to Ireland in 2020 and was brought on as a substitute for Cork against Kerry in the 2020 Munster Senior Football Championship. He scored the late goal that knocked Kerry out of the competition, in what was described as "one of the biggest upsets in recent championship history... a strike so late it had eerie echoes of Tadhg Murphy's 1983 goal at the same end of the ground that similarly put Kerry out of the championship".[11][12]

AFL statistics

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Statistics are correct to the end of 2024[13]
Legend
  G  
Goals
  K  
Kicks
  D  
Disposals 
  T  
Tackles
  B  
Behinds 
  H  
Handballs 
  M  
Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2019 Collingwood 47 0
2020[a] Collingwood 47 1 0 0 5 1 7 1 2 0.0 0.0 5.0 1.0 7.0 1.0 2.0
2021 Collingwood 11 4 0 1 31 25 56 23 1 0.0 0.3 7.8 6.3 14.0 5.8 0.3
2022 Collingwood 47 0
2023 Adelaide 48 5 0 0 46 21 67 29 3 0.0 0.0 9.2 4.2 13.4 5.8 0.6
2024 Adelaide 48 21 0 1 270 83 353 113 22 0.0 0.1 12.9 4.0 16.8 5.4 1.1
Career 31 0 2 352 131 483 166 28 0.0 0.1 11.4 4.2 15.6 5.4 0.9

Notes

  1. ^ 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

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  1. ^ Mark Keane: ‘There was a training session in Castlelyons. I didn’t show up. My head was scrambled’ by Maurice Brosnan for Irish Examiner 19 July 2024
  2. ^ I Didn’t Grow Up Wanting To Play AFL, I Wanted To Play For Cork But I Got A Chance' by Maurice Brosnan for Balls.ie 22 June 2019
  3. ^ "Pies lock in Irish youngsters". Collingwood. Telstra. 16 October 2018.
  4. ^ Colangelo, Anthony (31 July 2020). "Collingwood hand debut to Irishman Mark Keane". The Age. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Keane returns to Ireland". Collingwood. Telstra. 14 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Keane joins Crows from Ireland". afc.com.au. 20 January 2023. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  7. ^ Standish, Zac (27 July 2023). "Team Selection: Round 20". afc.com.au. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Fremantle Dockers vs Adelaide Crows - AFL Round 3, 2024". Fox Sports. 29 March 2024.
  9. ^ Edmund, Sam (10 September 2024). "Collingwood set to miss out on key trade period target". 1116 SEN.
  10. ^ "Keane to call Adelaide home to 2028". afc.com.au. 10 September 2024.
  11. ^ Keys, Colm (8 November 2020). "Kerry's Championship dreams destroyed after stunning extra-time final act sees Cork triumph". Irish Independent.
  12. ^ "Murphy happy to share fame with new Cork hero Keane". RTÉ Sport. 9 November 2020.
  13. ^ "Mark Keane statistics". AFL Tables. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
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