Lachlan Keeffe

{{Infobox AFL biography

| name = Lachlan Keeffe

| image = Keefe at training (cropped).jpg

| alt =

| caption = Keeffe training with Collingwood in 2014

| fullname = Lachlan Keeffe

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1990|4|14|df=y}}

| birth_place = Gympie, Queensland, Australia

| death_date =

| death_place =

| draftpick = No. 69, 2009 rookie draft

| height = 204 cm

| weight = 99 kg

| position = Key defender/Key forward

| currentclub = {{AFL GWS}}

| guernsey = 25

| club1 = {{AFL Col}}

| years1 = 2009–2017

| games_goals1 = 40 {{0}}(7)

| club2 = {{AFL GWS}}

| years2 = 2018–

| games_goals2 = 76 {{0}}(12)

| games_goalstotal = 116 (19)

| statsend = 2024

| careerhighlights =

}}

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 life

Keeffe 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.[https://www.aflq.com.au/keeffe-finally-gets-afl-chance/ KEEFFE FINALLY GETS AFL CHANCE]

AFL Career

In 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{{Cite web |url=http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/tabid/8170/Default.aspx?playerid=19985 |title=Lachlan Keeffe Player Profile bio - Official AFL Website of the Collingwood Football Club |access-date=10 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107172423/http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/tabid/8170/Default.aspx?playerid=19985 |archive-date=7 November 2012 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web|title=Keeffe named in Suns game|url=http://www.gympietimes.com.au/story/2011/07/23/keeffe-named-in-suns-game/|publisher=The Gympie Times|date=23 July 2011}}

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.{{cite web|first=Greg|last=Davis|title=Gympie recruit Lachlan Keefe hits AFL big time with Collingwood|url =http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/afl/gympie-recruit-lachlan-keefe-hits-afl-big-time-with-collingwood/story-e6frepf6-1226099296323|publisher=The Courier-Mail|date=22 July 2011}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/player-profile/lachlan-keeffe|title=Lachlan Keeffe|website=collingwoodfc.com.au}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2015-08-10/keeffe-thomas-accept-two-year-bans-2015|title=Keeffe, Thomas accept two-year bans|first=Travis|last=King|publisher=BigPond|work=collingwoodfc.com.au|date=10 August 2015}} He was banned from AFL competition until 9 February 2017{{cite news|title=Collingwood duo Lachlan Keeffe and Josh Thomas banned from AFL until 2017|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-04/collingwood-duo-banned-until-2017/6912534|access-date=10 November 2015|work=ABC News|date=4 November 2015}}

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.{{cite news|title=Josh Thomas working as an Uber driver, while serving provisional suspension.|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/josh-thomas-working-as-an-uber-driver-while-serving-provisional-suspension/story-fni5f22o-1227457790381|newspaper=Herald Sun|date=26 July 2015}}

On 27 November 2015, Keeffe and his teammate Josh Thomas were re-drafted to Collingwood through the rookie draft.{{cite web|url=http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2015-11-27/keeffe-and-thomas-return-as-rookies|title=Keeffe and Thomas return as rookies|publisher=BigPond|work=collingwoodfc.com.au|date=27 November 2015|access-date=27 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151130062010/http://www.collingwoodfc.com.au/news/2015-11-27/keeffe-and-thomas-return-as-rookies|archive-date=30 November 2015|url-status=dead}}

At the conclusion of the 2017 season, Keeffe was delisted by Collingwood.{{cite news|url=http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-10-10/keeffe-among-four-pies-delisted|title=Pies axe four in first wave of list changes|last=Black|first=Sarah|date=10 October 2017|work=AFL.com.au|publisher=Bigpond|access-date=10 October 2017}} He was subsequently signed by the Greater Western Sydney Giants as a delisted free agent in November.{{cite web|url=http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-11-02/giants-give-dumped-magpie-an-afl-lifeline|title=Giants give dumped Magpie an AFL lifeline|publisher=Australian Football League|first=Marc|last=McGowan|date=2 November 2017|access-date=2 November 2017}}

At the 2017 AFL Women's draft, Keeffe's sister Jessy was drafted by {{AFLW|Bri}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.lions.com.au/news/2017-10-18/aflw-draft-keeffe|title=Lions select Keeffe with Pick No. 48|first=Josie|last=Fielding|publisher=Telstra Media|work={{AFL BL}}|date=18 October 2017}}

Statistics

: Statistics are correct to the end of the 2024 season{{Cite web|title=Lachlan Keeffe statistics|url=http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/L/Lachlan_Keeffe.html|publisher=AFL Tables|access-date=9 September 2017}}

| 2010 || {{AFL Col}} || 23

| 0 || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || – || –

| 2011 || {{AFL Col}} || 23

| 5 || 4 || 3 || 29 || 13 || 42 || 19 || 4 || 0 || 0.8 || 0.6 || 5.8 || 2.6 || 8.4 || 4.8 || 0.8 || 0.0

| 2012 || {{AFL Col}} || 23

| 9 || 1 || 0 || 69 || 31 || 100 || 42 || 11 || 6 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 7.7 || 3.4 || 11.1|| 4.7 || 1.2 || 0.7

| 2013 || {{AFL Col}} || 23

| 8 || 1 || 0 || 65 || 33 || 98 || 40 || 11 || 1 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 8.1 || 4.1 || 12.2 || 5 || 1.4 || 0.1

| 2014 || {{AFL Col}} || 23

| 18 || 1 || 0 || 146 || 70 || 216 || 71 || 20 || 0 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 8.1 || 3.9 || 12 || 3.9 || 1.1 || 0.0

| 2015 || {{AFL Col}} || 23

| colspan="17" | Banned for the 2015 season

| 2016 || {{AFL Col}} || 23

| colspan="17" | Banned for the 2016 season

| 2017 || {{AFL Col}} || 23

| 0 || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || — || – || –

| 2018 || {{AFL GWS}} || 25

| 8 || 1 || 0 || 38 || 38 || 76 || 17 || 7 || 67 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 4.8 || 4.8 || 9.5 || 2.1 || 0.9 || 8.4

| 2019 || {{AFL GWS}} || 25

| 10 || 6 || 3 || 53 || 28 || 81 || 36 || 17 || 15 || 0.6 || 0.3 || 5.3 || 2.8 || 8.1 || 3.6 || 1.7 || 1.5

| 2020{{efn|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.}} || {{AFL GWS}} || 25

| 13 || 0 || 0 || 67 || 50 || 117 || 47 || 11 || 0 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 5.2 || 3.8 || 9.0 || 3.6 || 0.8 || 0.0

| 2021 || {{AFL GWS}} || 25

| 8 || 1 || 0 || 57 || 22 || 79 || 37 || 16 || 19 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 7.1 || 2.8 || 9.9 || 4.6 || 2.0 || 2.4

| 2022 || {{AFL GWS}} || 25

| 18 || 2 || 2 || 89 || 47 || 136 || 48 || 33 || 69 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 4.9 || 2.6 || 7.6 || 2.7 || 1.8 || 3.8

| 2023 || {{AFL GWS}} || 25

| 14 || 1 || 3 || 43 || 46 || 89 || 28 || 20 || 94 || 0.1 || 0.2 || 3.1 || 3.3 || 6.4 || 2.0 || 1.4 || 6.7

| 2024 || {{AFL GWS}} || 25

| 5 || 1 || 4 || 19 || 16 || 35 || 8 || 16 || 90 || 0.2 || 0.8 || 3.8 || 3.2 || 7.0 || 1.6 || 3.2 || 18.0

|- class="sortbottom"

! colspan=3| Career

! 116