| Ben Keays | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Keays with Adelaide in May 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Ben Keays | ||
| Born | (1997-02-23)23 February 1997 (age 28) Melbourne,Victoria | ||
| Original team | Morningside(QAFL)/Redland (NEAFL)/Brisbane Lions Academy | ||
| Draft | No. 24,2015 national draft (Academy selection) | ||
| Height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Weight | 89 kg (196 lb) | ||
| Position | Forward /midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Adelaide | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2016–2019 | Brisbane Lions | 30(11) | |
| 2020– | Adelaide | 131 (117) | |
| Total | 161 (128) | ||
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2025 season. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
Ben Keays (born 23 February 1997) is a professionalAustralian rules footballer playing for theAdelaide Football Club in theAustralian Football League (AFL). His great-grandfatherFred Keays represented bothFitzroy andCollingwood in theVictorian Football League (VFL).
Born in Melbourne, Keays participated in theAuskick program atHampton, Victoria.[1] Keays moved to Brisbane at five years of age[2] and continued playing Auskick at theMorningside Australian Football Club.[1] He attendedSt Joseph's College, Gregory Terrace throughout his schooling years.[3] His great grandfather,Fred, played football forFitzroy andCollingwood between 1919 and 1922 and served in bothWorld War I andII.[4] His great uncle, Desmond, also played football for Fitzroy[5] while his uncle,Terry, played for Collingwood andRichmond. Ben began playing junior football for theMorningside Panthers[6] and was placed in theBrisbane Lions Academy at the age of 14.[7] He was selected to representQueensland in the 2014 and 2015AFL Under 18 Championships,[8][9][10] and was selected in the2014 and2015 All-Australian teams.[11][12] He also captained Queensland to their first division 2 title in nine years at the 2015 AFL Under 18 Championships[13] and won the2015 Hunter Harrison Medal for his performances across the three games.[14][15][16]
Keays was recruited by theBrisbane Lions with their third selection and 24th overall in the2015 national draft.[17] He was the second academy selection for Brisbane after they matched a bid by theWestern Bulldogs.[18]
Keays made his AFL debut for Brisbane in Round 6, 2016, against theSydney Swans.[19] He won the Andrew Ireland Medal as best afield in the 2017 NEAFL Grand final, amassing 30 disposals, 9 tackles and 2 goals.[20] He was delisted at the conclusion of the2019 AFL season. Keays was later picked up by theAdelaide Crows at pick 7 in the2019 rookie draft.[21]
Keays enjoyed a breakout2020 AFL season, playing 16 games for the Crows. He finished 5th in theMalcolm Blight Medal and won the Players' Trademark award.
He received competition-wide recognition with an impressive2021 AFL season which was rewarded with a 2nd-place finish in theMalcolm Blight Medal.[22] 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 the2021 Brownlow Medal.[23] In October 2021, he signed a contract which would keep him at the Crows until the end of 2024.[24] Following the2022 season, Keays was awarded with the Dr Brian Sando, OAM Award, given to the Adelaide Crow most professional and prepared throughout the season.[25]
In an August2023 match againstSydney, 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.[26] 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.[27]
Keays became one of three vice-captains of the Adelaide Crows prior to the2024 season, joiningBrodie Smith andReilly O'Brien. Just months later, he extended his contract with the club until the end of 2027.[28] 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 byScott Thompson. Keays has not missed a game since his club debut in 2020.[29] Just two weeks after a career-best four goals against his former sideBrisbane, Keays bested himself by kicking five goals from 22 disposals in what was a clear best-on-ground performance in a two-point victory againstEssendon.[30] His efforts throughout the 2024 season were rewarded with him winning theMalcolm Blight Medal, the award for the player deemed best and fairest of the Adelaide Football Club. He shared the award with club captainJordan Dawson, with both players polling 107 votes. Keays also won the Members' MVP Award and the Dr Brian Sando, OAM Trophy.[31]
Updated to the end of 2025.[32]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 2016 | Brisbane Lions | 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 | Brisbane Lions | 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 | Brisbane Lions | 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 | Brisbane Lions | 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[a] | Adelaide | 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 | Adelaide | 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 | Adelaide | 2 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 315 | 271 | 586 | 73 | 106 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 14.3 | 12.3 | 26.6 | 3.3 | 4.8 | 11 |
| 2023 | Adelaide | 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 | Adelaide | 2 | 23 | 34 | 20 | 225 | 148 | 373 | 88 | 83 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 9.8 | 6.4 | 16.2 | 3.8 | 3.6 | 4 |
| 2025 | Adelaide | 2 | 25 | 36 | 23 | 250 | 169 | 419 | 95 | 84 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 10.0 | 6.8 | 16.8 | 3.8 | 3.4 | 9 |
| Career | 161 | 128 | 101 | 1661 | 1431 | 3092 | 521 | 664 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 10.3 | 8.9 | 19.2 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 38 | ||
Team
Individual
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