Keras beats injury to keep dream alive

JORDAN Keras has not given up hope of one day playing AFL, despite a frustrating start to his Geelong VFL career.

The 24-year-old was told by a few AFL clubs last year he was “pretty close” to being drafted after his scintillating NEAFL season ended in a best-in-comp medallion.

But a hamstring injury early in the new year delayed his return to the VFL, leaving him on the sidelines longer than he expected.

“I ended up missing four practice matches and four games, so it was a long time, but it’s nice to be back out playing,” the Cats VFLlisted player said.

“It was definitely longer than I first thought.

“I couldn’t quite tick off one or two tests that I needed to tick off, and even when I did tick them off, they went with more of a conservative approach and gave me another week.

“When we had a bye in the VFL, it came at a good time to get a game in at Joeys, so it was nice to get a game under my belt there too.”

The inside midfielder looks like he hasn’t missed a beat, returning a team-high 25 touches, seven tackles and a goal in his second game for Geelong on Saturday.

Keras said he still harboured ambitions of playing at the elite level.

“Being close last year, I didn’t really put too much pressure on myself and it panned out the best way it could footy-wise,” he said.

“There were a few clubs that said I was pretty close, so if I can show the form I had last year in the VFL — probably the best comp in Australia (outside the AFL) — then that will probably hold me in good stead. If not, I’ll just keep playing the best footy I can for Geelong.”

But Keras was aware he would probably have to add another string to his bow outside of playing on the ball.

“(Coach) Shane (O’Bree) probably approached me about that,” he said. “He said to be a consistently good footballer in the VFL, you can’t just be onedimensional.

“There’ll be times where I’ll have to play other roles in the footy club and I think that will be the best thing for my footy.

“If clubs want to have confidence in me playing at AFL level, they do want to see me playing other roles than just the inside mid role.”