WICKLIFFE-Lake Bolac ruckman Brad Keilar is on the cusp of joining his father Norm as a 300-game Magpie.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Keilar will become the ninth player in club history to reach the milestone when he steps onto the field against SMW Rovers at Mininera on Saturday.
And the prospect of eclipsing Norm’s 432-game club record remains a possibility, with the 37-year-old vowing to play on while he can.
“As long as my body holds up, I’ll keep playing. You’re too long retired to give it up early,” he said.
The milestone, which includes “six or seven” reserves matches, is the latest highlight in a career which started in the Magpies’ junior ranks in the 1990s.
Keilar made his senior debut at age 15 and played through to 1997, when the club won their third premiership as a merged entity.
Three seasons with Wimmera league club Ararat followed before he returned to where it all started.
The respected big man has spent all but one season since wearing a black-and-white jumper. The exception was in 2010, when he joined his brother Chris at Dennington.
His tenure has included five premierships with Wickliffe-Lake Bolac (1997, 2001-02, 2005 and 2013) and one with Ararat (1999).
He also has two Mininera and District league best-and-fairest awards to his name, in 2011 and 2013.
The 2001 flag stands out as the most memorable, for the sole reason Keilar could celebrate with his brothers.
”Boots (Chris) played in the under 16 grand final and they won that and Daniel played in the reserves and they won that – and Norm coached them,” he said.
“Then I played in the seniors. We had three winners for the day.”
But his years immersed in the football have also had their low points, no more so when Wickliffe-Lake Bolac footballer David Breen died in a car crash in 2010, aged 20.
Keilar was playing for Dennington at the time but felt how the tragedy affected his community. “It’s still talked about now. When it did happen, we retired his number...it’s always in people’s minds,” he said.
Wickliffe-Lake Bolac is eighth on the MDFL ladder with three rounds to play but face an uphill task to make finals.
They are two games behind Glenthompson-Dunkeld, with matches against SMW Rovers, Moyston-Willaura and Ararat Eagles to come.
Another finals campaign would be welcome, but Keilar said there was reward alone in being part of the MDFL.
“It doesn’t matter where we play, we try and have one or two beers with every team. But you end up sitting around for longer than you think,” he said.
As for reuniting on the field with Chris, that remains dependent on the Dogs’ Warrnambool and District league fortunes.
“He can come home to me,” Keilar said. “He’s only got the one goal in mind. If he wins a flag with Dennington he might come home.”