Keary is having a sneakily strong season in his comeback from an ACL tear to give the injury-hit Roosters the experienced playmaker they’ll need to do damage in the NRL finals.
The Roosters were hit with a huge blow on Monday in the lead-up to Sunday’s Elimination Final against Souths with centre Joey Manu being ruled out due to a calf strain.
Manu’s absence is undeniable. He leads the NRL for tackle breaks this year at 151 to be eight clear of skipper James Tedesco (143) with no one else within cooee of the star duo.
His superb stint as five-eighth midway through the season led to suggestions the talented Kiwi should be the Roosters’ long-term No.6 but Keary has returned from a concussion layoff to not only re-establish himself as the team’s lead playmaker but go close to recapturing the form which propelled him to the Clive Churchill Medal in 2018.
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Keary enters the NRL finals with impressive form after his 2021 season was cut short after just two games due to an ACL tear.
The 30-year-old three-time premiership-winning pivot is equal second (despite playing two fewer games) alongside Sharks star Nicho Hynes for total try involvements in the NRL with 43, according to Fox Sports Lab statistics, trailing only Rabbitohs five-eighth Cody Walker’s 53.
Keary is also equal fourth when it comes to line break assists with 24 alongside Cowboys custodian Scott Drinkwater and Dragons skipper Ben Hunt, trailing only Sharks fullback Will Kennedy (27), Rabbitohs star Latrell Mitchell (28) and Hynes (29).
Alongside Sam Walker, they form the smallest halves combination of the eight finalists but Keary is far from a liability in defence, registering a more than respectable 83 per cent tackle efficiency to be in the top 10 for regular five-eighths in the competition.
Keary definitely struggled at the start of the season as he regained confidence in his knee and match fitness after nearly 12 months on the sidelines.
In his first seven appearances he came up with just four try assists as the Roosters’ campaign ebbed and flowed over the first couple of months of the season.
He was just starting to hit his straps again by Round 14 when he suffered a head knock in the clash with Melbourne and after five concussions within the space of 16 months in 2018-19, the Roosters gave him a five-week hiatus.
Luke Keary. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Since he’s been back he’s combined brilliantly with Walker, Tedesco and Manu to give the Roosters myriad attacking focal points, racking up nine try assists as the team surged to the end of the regular season on the back of an eight-game winning streak.
The other change since Keary’s been back is returning to the No.6 jersey with Walker reverting to his preferred halfback role.
“Every team’s a bit different, just the style they play. You’re doing a different job. It’s probably more natural for him,” Keary told reporters at the Roosters’ midweek media session of the switch. “He gets a lot of the kicking done, he can inject himself at different times.
“He doesn’t have to be on the ball the whole game.”
Even though he will be approaching his 33rd birthday by the time his contract runs out at the end of 2024, it would not surprise to see Keary extend his tenure at the club.
Manu and Tedesco are off contract at the same time as Keary, it’s Walker and fellow young gun Joseph Suaalii who the Roosters need to get under lock and key long term as they are both free agents at the end of next season.
Keary has been at the Roosters so long now that it now looks weird to see old pictures of him in a Rabbitohs jersey.
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
He played 63 matches for Souths from 2013-16, including the 2014 Grand Final win, but has now racked up nearly double that tally (115 matches) for the Tricolours with two premierships to boot.
Apart from 2018 when he starred in the Roosters’ Grand Final win over Melbourne when he stepped up to be chief playmaker while Cooper Cronk ghosted around the field to protect his damaged shoulder, Keary has been severely under-rated throughout his career.
In large part due to various injuries, he’s only played one Origin for NSW and two Tests for Australia, and with the Kangaroos well stocked for halves with Nathan Cleary, Cameron Munster, Daly Cherry-Evans and Ben Hunt, he has indicated he will likely turn out for Ireland at this year’s World Cup.
Keary, who is of Irish descent through his father, would give the Wolfhounds a fighting chance of being the second team to qualify for the quarter-finals after New Zealand from Pool C rivals Jamaica and Lebanon.
Manu and prop Lindsay Collins (suspended) are the only two definite non-starters this weekend for the Roosters but their five doubtful starters all appear certain to play.
Kiwi prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is battling hamstring concerns and hooker Sam Verrills has a damaged hand after last Friday’s win over the Rabbitohs at the newly relaunched Allianz Stadium.
Suaalii (shoulder) and fellow winger Daniel Tupou (groin) were rested last week and should be right for the elimination final while lock Victor Radley will suit up as long as he clears all the concussion protocols.
