Lee Keegan still says ‘we’ when he talks about Westport Rugby Club.
He’s still a big fan of the oval ball. He’s still engrossed in things like the Lions Series, getting up early, skipping work so he doesn’t miss a beat in New Zealand.
He freely admits that it took a lot of convincing to get him to play football but, now, he wouldn’t change it for the world.
The Footballer of the Year was once a prospect of the Connacht Academy. A dynamic full back, you can probably imagine, he believes that the running power he developed in those days, the nous to sniff danger and the explosive opportunism from the last line of a rugby field have carved out his playing style with an O’Neill’s ball.
It’s crazy to think that the GAA might never have seen the best of Lee Keegan had he chosen the rugby instead. But then again, maybe it was never really a choice.
Not once he got a taste of this way of life.
“I did really love the rugby and I was lucky to be in a position where I had good players around me that I could play at such a high level – with Connacht and Corinthians and even with Westport,” Keegan spoke with SportsJOE about his switch as a teenager to prioritise the football.
“We’re like a conveyor belt in Westport. We have a lot of players hitting the top level.
“I just found there was more of a camaraderie with the Gaelic.
“That sense of amateur too – I know it sounds silly sometimes but there’s something special about it. To pull on your county jersey at MacHale Park or Croke Park, it’s special and I just didn’t get that sense with the rugby.”
The further he went, the better it got.
“Even with the crowds we got in the Gaelic, it was something I hadn’t experienced before,” he said.
“When I got to the 21s, you could see how much people enjoyed it. That’s the reason why I chose GAA.
“To be honest, I wouldn’t regret at all what I picked. I’ve had some of the best days and best years of my life playing with Mayo and Westport and hopefully that continues.
“The rugby really stood me well for the physical side of Gaelic and for going forward from the half back line – I was able to make those bursts up and down. I was lucky to have that kind of background where I could come in and exploit defences and put a good hit in or a tackle in and be able to take it as well.”
Lee Keegan gives honest assessment of centre back and what he misses about the wing https://t.co/ye1Z0ujJmL
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 15, 2017
He’s so caught up in it now though that he’s playing year-round.
Back in February, Lee Keegan climbed the steps of the Hogan Stand to get his hands on the All-Ireland club intermediate championship. That was the culmination of a club season that would’ve started at least 12 months beforehand. In between, he played in two finals with Mayo.
A week after Westport’s win, Keegan returned to inter-county football to take on Dublin again in the league. Since then, he hasn’t stopped.
“I love football,” his justification for it all is simple.
“When you’re in the mix, you don’t think of tiredness or taking rests. I was unfortunate that I didn’t get a rest from the county this year but I went on a great run with the club and I was lucky that that happened. It brought its own little journey in itself.
“At the end of it though, you still have to think of Mayo as well because that’s a whole different challenge. I love being able to put on the Mayo jersey and represent them any way I can.
“I’m lucky enough to be in a position where we’re playing games week in, week out – so I’m not going to give out at this present moment.”
To compound it though, the half back and his team mates must go through the dreaded qualifier route once more – three knockout games just to make it back to the quarter-finals.
The first of those is a home clash against Derry. You wonder how they can lift themselves to do it all over again.
“I still think the freshness is there,” Keegan defied.
“We know the route now at this stage – we went through it last year – so we have an idea of what we have to do.
“It’s going to be a tough and daunting test. We got a tough side of the draw. It is going to be a long road unfortunately but it’s a road we’ve been down before and we’re capable of doing it again if we sort out our few problems.”
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