McKeever’s supreme work ethic even prompted Senior Coach Michael Voss to praise him on the eve of his senior AFL debut in 2011.
“As a coach, you’d pick him to go to war with you,” Voss said at the time.
And little has changed since.
The ‘competitive beast’ was unleashed in the dying moments of last Sunday’s win against West Coast at the Gabba, when McKeever outran Eagles forward Jack Darling and got his hand on a loose ball to save a certain goal.
“Over the pre-season, we did a lot of repeated 150m sprints, so I guess that kind of came to the fore,” McKeever said.
“I just put my head down and went for it. It was a last gasp effort, and I just had to put everything into it.”
“The crowd was just fantastic and probably helped as well.”
McKeever will now be hoping to find a more regular spot in the Lions’ backline, which is currently being held together by the likes of Matt Maguire, Joel Patfull, Josh Drummond and Mitch Goby while regular full-back Daniel Merrett plays up forward.
“We’ve got a pretty tight defensive unit, and ‘Goose’ (Maguire) and Joel (Patfull) are going so well,” McKeever said.
“I suppose West Coast played a bit taller, which allowed me to get in the team. But hopefully I can get another game.”
The next assignment for the Lions’ backline promises to be one of their toughest, when the face the tall timber of Hawthorn - headlined by Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin - in Round 12 at the MCG.
“Hawthorn have a lot of dangerous forwards, but none moreso than Franklin,” McKeever said.
“He’s a sensational player, and kicked 13 goals last weekend. It won’t take just one person to stop him, it will need to be a team effort.”
