The AFL today announced that Richmond triple premiership player Merv Keane has been awarded AFL Life Membership for his Service to Australian Football.
Keane, a Team of the Century member, will be inducted in March at the 2019 Annual General Meeting.
Keane was worth his weight in gold to Richmond throughout a stellar 13-season league career with the Club.
He played mainly in the back pocket or as a half-back, but also was used particularly effectively at times as a ruck-rover. He carved out an extremely impressive reputation as a close-checking, ever-reliable defender with a great capacity for curbing the brilliance of the most dangerous of opposition forwards.
A strong mark, good kick, ice cool under pressure, brave, fiercely determined, and the consummate team man.
In an era where Richmond was blessed with some of the best players to ever pull on a boot for the Club, Merv Keane might not have attracted the attention of his superstar teammates among those outside Tigerland’s four walls, but make no mistake, he was held in the highest esteem by those in the Yellow and Black inner sanctum.
He went about his football business with minimum fuss, but maximum efficiency, and very rarely had his colours lowered on the field of battle.
Keane almost ended up playing for Melbourne after coming down from Victorian country club Wycheproof, when he joined a group of aspiring footballers, who he thought were young Tiger hopefuls on a training run.
He subsequently discovered they were Melbourne, not Richmond players, when they returned to the MCG rather than Punt Road. It was probably the only time he stuffed up throughout his entire time at Tigerland.
Keane will be returning to the Club in a voluntary role as a member of the Club’s history and traditions committee.
Born: July 29, 1953
Playing height: 185cm
Playing weight: 82.5kg
Recruited to Richmond from: Wycheproof
Guernsey number at Richmond: No. 40 and No. 18
Senior games at Richmond (1972-84): 238
Goals: 36
Honours: Triple Richmond premiership player (1973, 1974 and 1980, member of the Tigers’ Team of the Century and Hall of Fame, Richmond life member.
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