Player Watch Mark Keane - Signed to End of 2028

[GrommoT]

You guys should be pleased. Seriously he is a very good pick up for the Crows.
He's quick and tough with a hard edge to him. He takes the game on and is an attacking defender. Not a bad kick either.
The only knock I have on him after watching nearly all his VFL games is that he is a bit raw and can make some errors decision wise etc. All he needs is more experience and game time for an Irish guy learning the game.
Make no mistake - he was earmarked to be in Collingwood's best 22 as a key back last year. The club had put 2 years in development, and he was ready to be a regular senior player in 2022 and take Roughead's spot. His handful of senior games in 2021 were ok and he had some really good moments.
It will be tough on him to shine after missing 12 months of footy and also having just a 1 yr contract to prove himself.
I'm disappointed he is not back with Collingwood.
Good luck to him and I hope he does well in 2023.

Ah.. ok, it looks like he might have left Pies on a bit of a sour note so maybe some blackened, smoky bridges (as per DiT post)

 

[Eagleboy2011]

I once bought a pack of Balfours party pies and half of them had no filling so I wrote to Balfours and all I got was a $5 Coles gift card which wasn't even enough to buy a new pack of them..... Plus the nearest Coles to our house was a 20 minute drive

Smart on Coles behalf. They get a tax deduction on voucher, You spend it instore on their inflated product price, they probably don't pay the manufacturer because of faulty product, and you have to pay travel cost to get voucher reimbursement. I like the pastry btw.

 

[Eagleboy2011]

You guys should be pleased. Seriously he is a very good pick up for the Crows.
He's quick and tough with a hard edge to him. He takes the game on and is an attacking defender. Not a bad kick either.
The only knock I have on him after watching nearly all his VFL games is that he is a bit raw and can make some errors decision wise etc. All he needs is more experience and game time for an Irish guy learning the game.
Make no mistake - he was earmarked to be in Collingwood's best 22 as a key back last year. The club had put 2 years in development, and he was ready to be a regular senior player in 2022 and take Roughead's spot. His handful of senior games in 2021 were ok and he had some really good moments.
It will be tough on him to shine after missing 12 months of footy and also having just a 1 yr contract to prove himself.
I'm disappointed he is not back with Collingwood.
Good luck to him and I hope he does well in 2023.

The Collingwood board that i read generally did not rate him highly at all but thats to be expected of a player leaving, but we here have time to find out if he is any good.

 

[Scorpus]

Amusingly Pies board think we were dumb to not have Frampton instead of Keane.

Frampton is known bad.

At least Keane is still developing

 

[Tapiola]

You guys should be pleased. Seriously he is a very good pick up for the Crows.
He's quick and tough with a hard edge to him. He takes the game on and is an attacking defender. Not a bad kick either.
The only knock I have on him after watching nearly all his VFL games is that he is a bit raw and can make some errors decision wise etc. All he needs is more experience and game time for an Irish guy learning the game.
Make no mistake - he was earmarked to be in Collingwood's best 22 as a key back last year. The club had put 2 years in development, and he was ready to be a regular senior player in 2022 and take Roughead's spot. His handful of senior games in 2021 were ok and he had some really good moments.
It will be tough on him to shine after missing 12 months of footy and also having just a 1 yr contract to prove himself.
I'm disappointed he is not back with Collingwood.
Good luck to him and I hope he does well in 2023.

Great! Thanks for the feedback.

 

[George Kramer]

Frampton is known bad.

At least Keane is still developing

If McRae can structure Collingwoods defence so his poor one on one defending isn’t exposed, then he will fit nicely into their defence the way they play.

McRae seems a good coach so it will be interesting to see how he goes, for what they paid he is worth the punt. For their sake though I hope it was only a 2 year deal not 3.

 

[1990crow]

Frampton is known bad.

At least Keane is still developing

Exactly. Frampton isn't going to get any better.
Keane is obviously untapped potential due to being Irish.

 

[Scorpus]

If McRae can structure Collingwoods defence so his poor one on one defending isn’t exposed, then he will fit nicely into their defence the way they play.

McRae seems a good coach so it will be interesting to see how he goes, for what they paid he is worth the punt. For their sake though I hope it was only a 2 year deal not 3.

Teams will play through him, just like they did with us and many players over the years (Frampton, Hartigan, Kelly, Mackay, etc)

 

[George Kramer]

Teams will play through him, just like they did with us and many players over the years (Frampton, Hartigan, Kelly, Mackay, etc)

Quite possible, time will tell

 

[Go the Guts]

Kind of funny that we picked up two former Pies in one preseason!

Best of luck to him. We desperately need someone with his size and athleticism to work out down back, and he's the right age now, so he'll have every opportunity to show us what he can do! Good to see his partner is moving over as well. Caoimhe, which is apparently pronounced Kwee-va?

Edit: Also, I know Australia has no leg to stand on when it comes to making fun of silly names, but his club in Ireland was called "Ballygiblin"? That has to be a made-up name

I lived in Cork for a year, there are plenty of Irish towns with funny names.

Like:
Ballybrazil
Bastardstown
Blue Ball
Fannystown
Horetown
Hospital
Horse and Jockey
Muckanaghederdauhaulia
Muff
Nobber
Pullingtown
Stepaside
Two Mile Borris

 

[Go the Guts]

Amusingly Pies board think we were dumb to not have Frampton instead of Keane.

Yes, and they don't like hearing the truth from those of us who have watched Frampton for years, and wished him away from our club.
Reading balanced and not parochial posters' thoughts, it looks like Keane will end up a far better player than Frampton, who I couldn't wait to see the back of.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

You guys should be pleased. Seriously he is a very good pick up for the Crows.
He's quick and tough with a hard edge to him. He takes the game on and is an attacking defender. Not a bad kick either.
The only knock I have on him after watching nearly all his VFL games is that he is a bit raw and can make some errors decision wise etc. All he needs is more experience and game time for an Irish guy learning the game.
Make no mistake - he was earmarked to be in Collingwood's best 22 as a key back last year. The club had put 2 years in development, and he was ready to be a regular senior player in 2022 and take Roughead's spot. His handful of senior games in 2021 were ok and he had some really good moments.
It will be tough on him to shine after missing 12 months of footy and also having just a 1 yr contract to prove himself.
I'm disappointed he is not back with Collingwood.
Good luck to him and I hope he does well in 2023.

Thanks for your comments.

At least we returned the favour with Frampton... who is highly skilled for a big guy... just have his team mates help out defending.

 

[Eagleboy2011]

Thanks for your comments.

At least we returned the favour with Frampton... who is highly skilled for a big guy... just have his team mates help out defending.

Billy might even throw a punch or 2 at Collingwood training now.

 

[Kane McGoodwin]

Billy might even throw a punch or 2 at Collingwood training now.

Who do you reckon he takes aim at... a certain cocky small forward...

 

[LoBu]

I once bought a pack of Balfours party pies and half of them had no filling so I wrote to Balfours and all I got was a $5 Coles gift card which wasn't even enough to buy a new pack of them..... Plus the nearest Coles to our house was a 20 minute drive

Should have taken them back to Coles for the refund, not write a letter.

On SM-F926B using BigFooty.com mobile app

 

[Eagleboy2011]

Who do you reckon he takes aim at... a certain cocky small forward...

Probably. No one Hartigan's size I should think.

 

[Dangarman]

Might turn out to be a masterstroke, but looks suspiciously like we are doing a Carlton--Brisbane and becoming a dumping ground for failed Pies.

On SM-A115F using BigFooty.com mobile app

I dunno, Ben Crocker worked out OK. Played 7 games for us. That's more than around 35 other players that have an AFC game on their stats sheet.

 

[LoBu]

Reading the Irish press revealed two key points for me
Firstly, the guy is a natural athlete with an excellent all around build who is highly competent in at least three codes (AFL, Irish football and hurling).
Secondly, he left Collingwood with a year left on his contract citing home sickness (COVID lockdowns in Melbourne had an influence) and a desire to play the Irish sports again.

Watching some clips of him, he is genuinely explosive in speed and power. He looked to my eye to have potential beyond just a KPD. But I'm judging that on half a dozen highlight clips.

Overall, a gun for hire type who might become heart and soul in time. Likely to be a quicker and more agile version of Nick Murray.

I love he's been in the system for three years at Collingwood and is physically "ready".

Can you link the highlights clip? I can't find footage of him.

 

[Big Dub]

Can you link the highlights clip? I can't find footage of him.

Vardy Magic has a highlights clip on Twitter, but not sure how to link.

Follow him on Twitter, there's regular good highlights.

 

[Eagleboy2011]

Those highlights suggest our next Brownlow Medalist.
Seriously though he didn't look too bad.

 

[cmndstab]

He definitely seems the more interesting prospect of our two preseason hires.

 

[StickerMan]

Those highlights suggest our next Brownlow Medalist.
Seriously though he didn't look too bad.

If you were to say to someone that he was Irish and was relatively new to the game they wouldn't believe you, looking at that.

 

[Mr MysteryGuest]

Amusingly Pies board think we were dumb to not have Frampton instead of Keane.

was surprised by the level of salt on their board

 

[Apsaalooke]

Likes the first handball give option and has good peripheral vision.
Highlights only I know, but don't think Hartigan or Frampton would have a similar package.
Also has some athleticism by the looks, unlike Fischer who looked stiff and always fell over.

 

[cleanhands]

Likes the first handball give option and has good peripheral vision.
Highlights only I know, but don't think Hartigan or Frampton would have a similar package.
Also has some athleticism by the looks, unlike Fischer who looked stiff and always fell over.

Was thinking simila, seems to know where teammates are, and handball options good