Ben Keays would have been called a typical Brisbane Lions nuffy but, back then, they weren’t so typical.
As a kid in Queensland besotted by Australian Rules football, Keays was an outlier.
“There was definitely some tough moments being a football person up there, especially going to high school,” Keays told AAP.
“Out of the whole cohort, there’s about three people that play footy or have any interest. All my mates had no idea about footy.”
Ben Keays playing for Brisbane in a game against Sydney in May, 2017. (Paul Miller/AAP PHOTOS)
The current Adelaide stalwart was linked to Brisbane, the footy club, before he knew it.
Born in Melbourne in February 1997 – the season Fitzroy became the Brisbane Lions – Keays took after his father Matt, a mad Roy Boy whose grandfather Fred played for the club.
“Dad was was actually Fitzroy diehard, so we inherited the Lions off him,” said Keays.
His family moved to Brisbane when he was five-years-old.
Now, 24 years later, he returns with the Crows to play the Lions in a Saturday night semi-final at the Gabba.
“Whenever I go back to Brisbane, I think of all the footy I played for for the Morningside Panthers up there, and from five years old onwards just absolutely loving footy, loving the Lions, going every game,” Keays said.
“Just to be able to run out on the Gabba and play, who knows how many more opportunities like that I’ll get?
“It’s pretty special for me. It’s a venue that I hold close to my heart, having watched so many games there.”
Ben Keays playing against West Coast at the Gabba in his debut season of 2016. (Dan Peled/AAP PHOTOS)
At school, Keays’ mates played rugby, soccer, basketball, cricket – never Australian rules.
“I was the only footy person and sometimes you cop a fair bit of heat from the rugby people up there for playing aerial ping-pong and all sorts of other names,” he said.
Keays became a Lions academy member aged 14, and played alongside current Brisbane captain Harris Andrews in Queensland’s under 18 team.
An underage star, Keays was an under-18 All Australian in 2014 and 2015, the year he captained Queensland to a division two national title and won the Hunter Harrison medal as the carnival’s best div two player.
The Lions selected Keays with pick 24, an academy selection, at the 2015 draft, and he made his debut in round one the next year.
But after 30 games, and only four in his last two seasons, he was delisted at the end of 2019, Chris Fagan’s third season as coach.
Adelaide took Keays with pick seven in the rookie draft and he became a pillar of the club’s rebuild under then first-year coach Matthew Nicks.
Remarkably, he hasn’t missed a game since joining the Crows – 155 and counting.
Ben Keays trains in isolation during the COVID season of 2020, his first as an Adelaide Crow. (Darren England/AAP PHOTOS)
Keays – who has club champion finishes of fifth, second, third, ninth, joint winner with Jordan Dawson, and fourth – was pivotal in Adelaide’s elimination final win over the Western Bulldogs last Saturday night.
Not only did he curtail top Dog Bailey Dale, he kicked two goals among five score involvements and laid six tackles – four of them inside 50.
“I just try and do the best I can for the team and execute my role,” he said of his performance.
“Sometimes the opportunities pop up. Being able to take them is always nice and always important.
“But keep playing for the team and if stuff happens off the back of that, then so be it. I’m just focused on how best I can help my mates out there.”
Another sizeable obstacle looms this Saturday night when Keays returns to his beloved Gabba – a likely match-up with star defender and former teammate Dayne Zorko.
“It’s a venue that I grew up watching all my footy at, week-in, week-out,” Keays said.
“I was a supporter through a lot of the leaner years for the Lions, so didn’t get to watch many finals up there.
“So to be able to take the field in a final in Brisbane in front of my family and friends – yeah, I can’t wipe the smile off my face.”