He played junior rugby league for Ipswich Brothers. At age 10, Keary moved to Sydney with his family.[3] In Sydney, Keary played junior rugby league for the Kellyville Bushrangers and later Hills District Bulls and attended Oakhill College in Castle Hill.[4] In 2010, Keary represented the Australian Schoolboys rugby union team.[5] That same year he represented the New South Wales Combined Independent Schools (NSWCIS) rugby league team at the Under 18s National Championships.[6][7] In 2011, Keary returned to Queensland, moving to the Gold Coast where he attended Griffith University and played a season with the Burleigh Bears, playing for their FOGS Colts and Queensland Cup teams.[4] At the end of the year he won Burleigh's FOGS Colts Best Back Award.[8]
Growing up, Keary supported the Brisbane Broncos, idolising Allan Langer who also hails from Ipswich, and stated his ambitions of one day representing them before signing with the South Sydney Rabbitohs ahead of the 2012 NRL season.[9] Keary played for the Rabbitohs' NYC team in 2012, captaining the team and playing 24 games, in which he scored 20 tries.[10] At the end of season, he was named on the bench in the 2012 NYC Team of the Year and won South Sydney's NYC Best and Fairest award.[11]
In January 2013, Keary was a member of the Queensland Junior Emerging Origin squad.[12] In Round 12 of the 2013 NRL season, Keary made his NRL debut for the South Sydney Rabbitohs against the Newcastle Knights off the interchange bench in the clubs 25–18 win at ANZ Stadium.[13] In Round 20 against the Gold Coast Titans, Keary scored his first and second tries NRL career tries off the interchange bench in South Sydney's 32–4 win at Cbus Super Stadium.[14] On 22 August 2013, Keary extended his contract with the South Sydney Rabbitohs to the end of the 2015 season.[15] Keary finished his debut year with two tries in 10 matches.
2014
In February, Keary was selected for the Rabbitohs inaugural 2014 Auckland Nines squad. Keary was preparing his breakout year but it was ruined early due to a torn pectoral muscle injury in the Nines.[16][17] Keary made his return to the South Sydney team in Round 17 against the Gold Coast Titans, scoring a try in the clubs 14-10 shock loss.[18] On 5 October, in the 2014 NRL Grand Final against Canterbury, Keary played at five-eighth in the 30–6 victory.[19][20] Keary finished the season with 3 tries from 12 matches.
In January, Keary was involved in a confrontation with actor and Rabbitohs club co-owner Russell Crowe in a pre-season bonding session at Crowe's farm in Nana Glen, New South Wales. It was revealed that Keary was furious after Crowe berated him, Cameron McInnes and some of the younger players. When Keary defended them, Crowe told him that he was not worth the money of his contract, sending Keary into a rage, first at Crowe and then at senior Souths player Sam Burgess for not sticking up for the younger players. Keary was ordered by Crowe to leave the property, which he did, catching a taxi at about 3:00am.[25][26]
At the start of the year, Keary, who was off contract at season's end, was linked to sign with the Sydney Roosters, the St. George Illawarra Dragons who offered him a contract worth $1.2 million over three-years, or even a shift to Rugby Union for 2017.[27][28] On 21 June, Keary announced that he signed a 2-year contract with the Roosters starting in 2017.[29][30] In Round 21 against the Canberra Raiders, Keary would play his last match for the South Sydney Rabbitohs after he suffered a season ending hamstring injury in the woeful 54–4 loss at ANZ Stadium.[31] Keary finished his last season with the South Sydney club playing in 17 matches and scoring three tries in the 2016 NRL season.
2017
In Round 1 of the 2017 NRL season, Keary made his club debut for Sydney Roosters against the Gold Coast Titans, having a successful match by scoring 2 tries in the 32–18 win at Cbus Super Stadium.[32] Keary made 26 appearances for Sydney Roosters and was part of the side which made it all the way to the preliminary final before suffering a shock 16–29 defeat by a depleted North Queensland Cowboys team.[33][34]
At season's end, Keary contemplated playing in the World Cup. He later said, "I stuck my hand up to play for Ireland in 2017. It didn’t eventuate, I had a few [injuries] at the back end of the year. I’ve always had a connection there since I was a kid. Dad’s family is still over there. I haven’t been over there but you just feel proud whenever he talked about it. It makes me feel good thinking about it."[35]
2018
In 2018, Keary suffered a broken jaw at pre season training and missed over a month of training and trial games.[36]
Keary received the Clive Churchill medal in the 2018 Grand Final where his team the Sydney Roosters beat the Melbourne Storm 21–6.
He capped a stellar season by earning selection in the Australian Kangaroos team as starting five-eighth for Test matches against New Zealand and Tonga.[37]
2019
Keary started the 2019 NRL season in good form as the club won 7 of their first 9 games. Keary's good form meant that he was in line to be selected for New South Wales in the 2019 State of Origin series. In Round 11 against Newcastle, Keary was taken from the field with concussion and was subsequently ruled out for 6 weeks.[38]
On 15 August, Keary was spoken about by Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold comparing him to Darius Boyd saying "I had a look through the competition last weekend, there is an Australian No.6 (Keary) playing for a team in Sydney who only made four metres last week and missed five tackles, Not one thing was said in the media about that. His team won and our team won. For whatever reason because Darius only had one run, he has been crucified all week from what I understand. I just think everyone needs to back off on Darius". Keary spoke to the media in response saying "I don’t really care to be honest. It’s a little bit odd. I don’t know him, I’ve never spoke to him. I don’t care what he says. I don’t care what he thinks".[39]
Keary played at five-eighth for the Sydney Roosters in the 2019 NRL Grand Final in which the club won their second consecutive premiership defeating Canberra 14–8 in the decider. It was Keary's third premiership victory as a player.[40]
On 7 October, Keary was named for the Australian side for the upcoming Oceania Cup fixtures.
2020
In round 9 of the 2020 NRL season, Keary scored two tries as the Sydney Roosters defeated North Queensland 42–16 at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.[41] In August 2020, Keary extended his contract with the Sydney Roosters until the end of the 2024 season. In round 18 against Newcastle, he scored two tries as the Sydney Roosters won the match 42–12 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.[42]
The following week, he scored a further two tries in the club's 34–18 victory over Cronulla-Sutherland.[43]
Keary made 22 appearances for the Sydney Roosters in the 2022 NRL season as the club finished sixth on the table. Keary played in the Sydney Roosters elimination final loss to arch-rivals South Sydney.[45]
2023
In round 5 of the 2023 NRL season, Keary scored two tries for the Sydney Roosters in their 28–20 victory over Parramatta.[46] In round 8, Keary kicked the winning field goal in the Sydney Roosters 27–26 victory over St. George Illawarra in the ANZAC Day game.[47] In round 12, Keary scored two tries for the Sydney Roosters in their 24-22 loss against St. George Illawarra at Kogarah Oval.[48] Keary played 26 matches for the Sydney Roosters in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 7th on the table and qualified for the finals. Keary played in both of the clubs finals games as they were eliminated in the second week against Melbourne.[49]
2024
On 29 April, it was announced that Keary was expected to announce his decision to retire from the NRL at the end of the 2024 season, later in the afternoon Keary announced his official retirement from the game after 12 seasons in the top grade.[50][51] On 17 June, Keary announced he had changed his mind about retirement signing a deal to join the Catalans Dragons in the Super League starting in 2025.[52][53] Keary played a total of 26 games for the Sydney Roosters in the 2024 NRL season as they finished third and qualified for the finals. Keary played in the clubs preliminary final loss against Melbourne.[54]
Representative career
Keary's State of Origin eligibility was a point of discussion within the media due to his being born and raised, for the first 10 years of his life, in Ipswich, Queensland. He spent the following eight years in Sydney, before returning to Queensland for another two years. In 2014, Keary wrote to then NRL CEO Dave Smith requesting that he be considered a Queenslander for future representative opportunities.[55] The request was denied and the 2012 eligibility rules were upheld.
Keary made his international debut for Australia in 2018 against New Zealand.[56] In 2020, he was selected to make his State of Origin debut for New South Wales in Game 1.[57]
Following New South Wales upset loss in Game 1 of the 2020 State of Origin series against Queensland, Keary was cut from the New South Wales squad for Game 2 and was not selected for Game 3 as the Blues suffered a shock 2–1 series defeat, with his "successor" at South Sydney, Cody Walker playing Games 2 & 3 in the 6 jersey.[58] On 16 October 2022, Keary made his debut for Ireland at the 2021 Rugby League World Cup and earned man of the match honours in their 48–2 victory over Jamaica.[59]
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