Ben McKay (footballer)

Ben McKay
Personal information
Full name Ben McKay
Date of birth (1997-12-24) 24 December 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth Torquay
Original team(s) Gippsland Power (TAC Cup)/Warragul
Draft No. 21, 2015 national draft
Debut Round 23, 2017, North Melbourne vs. Brisbane Lions, at the Gabba
Height 202 cm (6 ft 8 in)
Weight 104 kg (229 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current club Essendon
Number 32
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2016–2023 North Melbourne 71 (1)
2024– Essendon 23 (0)
Total 94(1)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 24, 2024.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Ben McKay (born 24 December 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was initially drafted to the North Melbourne Football Club.

Early life

McKay grew up in the Victorian town of Warragul in Gippsland. He played local football for Warragul Football Club.[1]

He attended school at St Paul’s Anglican Grammar.[2]

Growing up he supported Essendon, the club he would later end up playing for.

AFL career

He was drafted by North Melbourne with their first selection and twenty-first overall in the 2015 national draft.[3] He made his debut in the fifty-one point win against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba in round twenty-three of the 2017 season.[4] In February 2019, Ben signed a two-year contract extension keeping him at the Kangaroos until at least the end of 2021.[5]

Taking time to develop, Ben McKay found consistency at AFL level, playing 11 games in the backline in the 2020 season. A great contested mark and busy player under pressure, McKay continued his form into 2021.

McKay moved to Essendon as a restricted free agent in October 2023.[6]

Family

He is the identical twin brother of Carlton's Harry McKay.[7] In round 13 of the 2024 season, they played against each other for the first time in their careers. Before this game, they had never played one another, despite having been in the league for seven years; often as a result of one of the two being suspended or withdrawn late with injury[8] – leading to internet jokes that they are the same player running a fake twin gambit.[9] Ben (and Harry) are also cousins with former Port Adelaide and North Melbourne player, Stuart Cochrane. Stuart’s mothers maiden name is McKay.

Statistics

Statistics are correct to Round 24, 2023[10]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2017 North Melbourne 23 1 0 0 2 7 9 1 3 0.0 0.0 2.0 7.0 9.0 1.0 3.0
2018 North Melbourne 23 — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
2019 North Melbourne 23 3 0 1 11 10 21 10 4 0.0 0.3 3.7 3.3 7.0 3.3 1.3
2020[a] North Melbourne 23 11 0 0 43 59 102 36 18 0.0 0.0 3.9 5.4 9.3 3.3 1.6
2021 North Melbourne 23 22 0 0 99 111 210 95 31 0.0 0.0 4.6 5.9 10.5 5.9 1.5
2022 North Melbourne 23 15 1 0 92 47 139 82 18 0.0 0.0 3.9 5.4 9.3 3.3 1.6
2023 North Melbourne 23 19 0 0 146 86 232 113 12 0.0 0.0 4.6 5.9 10.5 5.9 1.5
Career 71 1 1 393 320 713 337 89 0.0 0.1 4.0 5.4 9.4 3.5 1.6

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ^ "Harry and Ben McKay have talent spotters looking twice ahead of AFL national draft". amp.theage.com.au. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  2. ^ "High Performance Program". St Paul's Anglican Grammar School. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  3. ^ Bowen, Nick (24 November 2015). "Roos plan on developing Ben McKay into long-term replacement for Drew Petrie". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  4. ^ Hamilton, Andrew (26 August 2017). "North Melbourne emphatically end tanking talk with big win over Brisbane Lions at the Gabba". The Courier-Mail. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  5. ^ "McKay re-commits to North". nmfc.com.au. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  6. ^ @AFLHouse (10 October 2023). "North Melbourne have elected to not match the offer and Ben McKay is now able to join Essendon immediately. North Melbourne are to receive a Round One compensation pick (currently pick 3)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ Larkin, Steve (24 November 2015). "Sibling rivalry to reach another level after McKay twins get drafted". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
  8. ^ "Will Harry ever meet Ben? The curious case of the McKay twins". Australian Football League. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  9. ^ "Blues' McKay fuels fire on social media". Zero Hanger. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  10. ^ "Ben McKay". AFL Tables. Retrieved 21 July 2019.