A Crows defender is coy on his future plans — and a potential Collingwood reunion.
Plus Essendon’s president says the club is “well placed” to be busy again this off-season.
Adelaide defender Mark Keane says he’s in no rush to make a call on his future amid links to former club Collingwood.
The 24-year old Irishman, who’s contracted until 2025, is reportedly a target of the Magpies in the reigning premiers’ bid to strengthen their defence, which comes following Nathan Murphy’s medical retirement and with Jeremy Howe in the twilight of his career.
Speaking on SEN radio on Monday, Keane was non-committal when asked about his Crows future amid a career-best season in defence.
“I’m contracted here for next year, but just holding off on stuff until the end of the season,” Keane said on SEN SA Breakfast.
“We’ll see what happens there.”
While reports have stated Keane is open to a reunion with Collingwood — where he played five games before departing in 2022 to return to Ireland — the 25-gamer was coy with regards to his plans.
“I’m not too sure how that kind of stuff works so I’ll hold off on that and wait until the end of the season,” he said.
“I just want to focus on playing footy, so we’ll just see how that goes.”
Essendon is “well placed” to again be aggressive in retooling its list in the off-season, according to president Dave Barham.
The cashed-up Bombers were among the busiest clubs last trade period, adding Ben McKay, Todd Goldstein, Jade Gresham and Xavier Duursma, who’ve all play important roles in this year’s rise.
And Essendon has again been linked players on the market including Geelong’s Tyson Stengle prior his re-signing and Gold Coast’s Ben Ainsworth.
Speaking on 3AW last Friday night, Barham confirmed the club was “looking for constant improvement across every area” as it begins a new period of list management under Matt Rosa’s lead.
“We had enough money last year to get four good players. I think we’re well placed (in 2024),” Barham said.
“What we’re doing at the moment is a lot of work going into list strategy, list management and structure and what we need.
“Last year I thought, was very instructional in what we’re trying to do here. We brought in four people who slotted straight into the team, we didn’t go and recruit people who would give us another of what we’ve already got.
“The four players who came in have played pretty much played every game, except for ‘Goldy’ (Goldstein), who’s been managed occasionally.
“Brad (Scott) has shown already that he’s very smart, knows what it takes and knows how to direct us in the right direction.”