Loughrea Luke, Ireland and Keary for his family

BY JOHN DAVIDSON

“I’ve drank more Gunniess in the last three days than I have in my life.”

We’re sitting in the foyer of a hotel in Leeds on a Friday night, and the bonding session is about to begin. Members of the Ireland support staff can be seen carrying in copious cans of Guinness and Birra Moretti.

Luke Keary is keen to join them and take part in the ritual rugby league bonding session. A new member of the Wolfhounds set-up, Keary is one of the star names who have joined Ireland for this World Cup.

His inclusion is a huge boost to the European country’s chances of getting out of their group and reaching the quarter-finals.

But the five-eighth is no fly-by-night, last minute entrant or plastic Paddy. Keary originally want to make his debut for Ireland five years ago. Injury stopped that at the time, but now his chance comes against Jamaica on Sunday.

“I put my name forward my Ireland in 2017 for the World Cup but I missed out because I was injured,” Keary explains to rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.

“Then 12 months later I got picked for Australia. I played for them in 2019, then I had my ACL. To find myself here is a pretty cool and surreal moment. But it’s exciting, and I’m looking forward to getting to know the boys and playing now.”

Keary, who was born in Queensland and has played for NSW in State of Origin, qualifies for Ireland through his paternal grandfather.

“My Dad was really good, we’ve known about our Irish heritage since we were very young,” he says. 

“Dad’s father, my grandfather, that’s where the connection is. He passed away when I was young. But his brother Phil, we became really close with him as a family. 

“We used to go and see him every year down in Canberra on a farm. The Irish connection has always been there for us, and you always felt a little bit of a connection through Dad. 

“Obviously when the chance came in 2017 I stuck my hand straight up for it. So it’s not something that’s popped up in the last 12 months, it’s been sitting there for me for a while.”

Keary’s grandfather hails from Loughrea, a market town outside Galway.

“His sister still lives there and Dad goes back to visit every now and then,” the Sydney Roosters star says. 

“I haven’t been. I’ve only been to the UK for the World Club Challenges. I haven’t had the chance to go on a holiday here but Dad’s pretty keen to get me over there after the World Cup.”

In the last World Cup a trend was set when several players, mostly Tonga, defected from New Zealand and Australia to their countries of heritage. Others have followed suit this year, with many Australian-born players choosing Samoa.

For Keary playing for Ireland, is it an important decision, something that means a lot to him personally and something he would generally like to see more of.

“I think that’s probably… just to represent that part of the family and Dad, and all the family that are still in Ireland,” he says. 

“I think it’s pretty cool. A few of them have reached out to Dad in the last couple of weeks to say they saw the news and they’re all pretty happy about it.

“Hopefully we see a shift of some of the Australian boys going to some of the European teams, because there’s obviously some players that have European heritage. 

“I had a good chat to Ricko [former Rooster Luke Ricketson], he did it and they made the semi-finals in 2000. I’d love to see more players do it, who are connected to their heritage and put their hands up to represent the European countries.

“I’m here now and I’m looking forward to representing Ireland.”

Ireland face Jamaica at Headingley, before clashes with Lebanon and New Zealand. Two victories should be enough to secure a berth in the next stage and a likely showdown with the Kangaroos.

Keary was wearing the green and gold three years ago, the last time an Australian team took to the field.

Now the two-time NRL grand final winner is not thinking about that potential fixture, with his focus on getting to know his new teammates and on the group matches to come.

Regardless of how Ireland fare at this World Cup, Keary is thankful for the experience and getting to honour certain members of his family, both past and present, in a special way.

“Jamaica, it’s their first World Cup,” he says. 

“They’ll come out of the blocks in that first game and it will be exciting for them. Then move on to Lebanon, they have some really good players. 

“That will be a big one for us. And then to finish off with NZ, it will be a tough one but I’m looking forward to it.”

“I honestly haven’t thought about it [potential game against the Kangaroos]. We have to worry about getting past Jamaica. We’ll see where we end up.”

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