Lachlan Keeffe
Lachlan Keeffe (born 14 April 1990) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for the Collingwood Football Club from 2009 to 2017. Early lifeKeeffe was born and raised in Gympie, Queensland. He grew up playing soccer, playing under 17s in the midfield position. With little prior knowledge of the game he made 5 appearances in Australian rules football during his time as a boarder at Marist College Ashgrove, with his size and athletic ability taking the notice of talent scouts from Collingwood.[1] AFL CareerIn 2008, Keeffe was signed by the Collingwood Football Club as an unregistered player and was later drafted with pick number 69 in the 2009 Rookie Draft. He played for Old Trinity in the VAFA[2] to develop his game during this time. In 2009, Keeffe played 20 games for Collingwood's reserves team in the VFL. After two seasons at VFL level, Keeffe earned a promotion to the club's senior list for 2011.[3] In 2011, Keeffe played in Collingwood's NAB Cup pre-season campaign, including the winning Pre Season Grand Final win against Essendon. Keeffe made his senior AFL debut against North Melbourne in round 16, 2011 at the MCG.[4] Keeffe played the first 9 games of the 2012 season, however, he required a knee reconstruction after round 9. Keeffe made his return to AFL ranks the next year in the round 17 loss to Gold Coast.[5] Keeffe, along with teammate Josh Thomas, tested positive to the banned substance clenbuterol in drug tests taken in February 2015. Both players accepted provisional suspensions in March 2015. On 10 August 2015, Thomas accepted his two-year ban from the tribunal and that day was delisted by Collingwood football club but was told he'd be re-drafted as a rookie for the 2017 season if still available in the draft.[6] He was banned from AFL competition until 9 February 2017[7] On 26 July 2015, teammate Travis Cloke revealed that Keeffe was interested in taking up a role as an NFL punter, and he would soon be travelling to the United States.[8] On 27 November 2015, Keeffe and his teammate Josh Thomas were re-drafted to Collingwood through the rookie draft.[9] At the conclusion of the 2017 season, Keeffe was delisted by Collingwood.[10] He was subsequently signed by the Greater Western Sydney Giants as a delisted free agent in November.[11] At the 2017 AFL Women's draft, Keeffe's sister Jessy was drafted by Brisbane.[12] Statistics
Notes
References
External linksWikimedia Commons has media related to Lachlan Keeffe.
|