Harry McKay (footballer)
| Harry McKay | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 McKay playing for Carlton in April 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Harrison McKay | ||
| Nickname(s) | H, Big H, Feathers | ||
| Date of birth | 24 December 1997 | ||
| Place of birth | Warragul, Victoria | ||
| Original team(s) | Gippsland Power (TAC Cup)/Warragul Football Club | ||
| Draft | No. 10, 2015 national draft | ||
| Debut | Round 18, 2017, Carlton vs. Brisbane Lions, at the Gabba | ||
| Height | 204 cm (6 ft 8 in) | ||
| Weight | 106 kg (234 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Key Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Carlton | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2016– | Carlton | 128 (252) | |
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of the 2024 season. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Harrison McKay (born 24 December 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). In 2021, McKay won the Coleman Medal, awarded to the season's leading goalkicker.
Career
[edit]A key forward, McKay played junior football at Warragul and state under-18s football with the Gippsland Power. He was drafted by Carlton with a first-round selection (No. 10 overall) in the 2015 national draft.[1] He missed much of the 2016 season—his first season in the professional system—with stress fractures in his back,[2] and he made his senior debut for the club in Round 18, 2017.[3]
McKay began to command a regular place in the Carlton forward line in 2018, and he was soon the club's primary spearhead. He won his first club leading goalkicker award in 2019 with 26 goals and was named forward pocket in that season's 22under22 team;[4] he then led the club's goalkicking again in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season with 21 goals. He had a breakout season in 2021, serving as a deep full-forward. He was among the strongest contested marks in the league. He kicked 58 goals for the season to win the Coleman Medal by a four-goal margin, which was both the most goals and first Coleman Medal by a Carlton player since 2009.
A natural left-foot kick, McKay's has gone through phases of both high and low goalkicking accuracy throughout this career. In 2021, he adopted a style of taking his set shots from the right side of the ground with a perpendicular run-up and snap kick, even from relatively narrow angles, while continuing to favour the conventional drop punt from the left side of the ground,[5] and won the Coleman Medal with 58.33; but his proficiency with the snap declined over subsequent years, culminating in a 2023 season tally of 29.29 from 77 attempts (across all kick types) which drew extensive negative coverage.[6] McKay significantly reduced his use of narrow angle snap shots from 2024,[7] finishing that season with a greatly improved return of 49.21.
In Opening Round 2024, McKay kicked the match winner with a minute and a half to go to win the game for the Blues after trailing by 46 points against the Lions at the Gabba.
Family
[edit]McKay is the mirror image twin brother of fellow professional footballer Ben McKay, who plays as a key defender at Essendon and previously at North Melbourne. It was not until 2024, their ninth seasons in the league, that they played an AFL game against each other, often as a result of one of the two being suspended or withdrawn late with injury,[8][9] leading to internet jokes that they were the same player running a fake-twin gambit.[10] The twins grew up in the Victorian town of Warragul and played local football for Warragul Football Club.[11]
Statistics
[edit]- Statistics are correct to the end of the 2024 season[12]
G
|
Goals | K
|
Kicks | D
|
Disposals | T
|
Tackles |
B
|
Behinds | H
|
Handballs | M
|
Marks | ||
†
|
Led the league for the season |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | ||||
| 2017 | Carlton | 10 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 15 | 7 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 5.5 | 2.0 | 7.5 | 3.5 | 0.5 |
| 2018 | Carlton | 10 | 13 | 21 | 11 | 103 | 35 | 138 | 70 | 23 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 7.9 | 2.7 | 10.6 | 5.4 | 1.8 |
| 2019 | Carlton | 10 | 20 | 26 | 30 | 161 | 46 | 207 | 125 | 32 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 8.1 | 2.3 | 10.4 | 6.3 | 1.7 |
| 2020 | Carlton | 10 | 13 | 21 | 15 | 76 | 21 | 97 | 57 | 20 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 5.8 | 1.6 | 7.5 | 4.4 | 1.5 |
| 2021 | Carlton | 10 | 19 | 58† | 33 | 154 | 31 | 185 | 113 | 27 | 3.1† | 1.7 | 8.1 | 1.6 | 9.7 | 6.0 | 1.4 |
| 2022 | Carlton | 10 | 19 | 45 | 31 | 169 | 48 | 217 | 114 | 25 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 8.9 | 2.5 | 11.4 | 6.0 | 1.3 |
| 2023 | Carlton | 10 | 21 | 29 | 29 | 190 | 57 | 247 | 141 | 34 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 9.1 | 2.7 | 11.7 | 6.7 | 1.6 |
| 2024 | Carlton | 10 | 21 | 49 | 21 | 207 | 67 | 274 | 143 | 52 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 9.8 | 3.2 | 13.0 | 6.8 | 2.5 |
| Career | 128 | 252 | 172 | 1071 | 309 | 1380 | 770 | 214 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 8.4 | 2.4 | 10.8 | 6.0 | 1.7 | ||
References
[edit]- ^ "PICK 10: Harry McKay". CarltonFC.com.au. Bigpond. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
- ^ Danielle Balales (20 September 2016). "Season review: Harry McKay". Carlton Football Club. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ Cherny, Daniel (21 July 2017). "Carlton name Harry McKay to make debut v Brisbane Lions on Sunday". The Age. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
- ^ "2019 22under22 team unveiled". AFLPA. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
- ^ Russell Gould (15 June 2021). "AFL: Carlton spearhead Harry McKay says snapshot goalkicking is the new normal". The Australian. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
- ^ Catherine Healey (31 May 2023). "'So glaringly off': Blues spearhead's brutally honest take amid goal kicking woes". Fox Sports. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ Lachlan Green. "HOW HARRY MCKAY HAS GONE TO WORK TO FIX HIS ACCURACY WOES THIS OFF-SEASON". SEN. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ Jack Jovanovski (10 June 2024). "'Thank god that's over': Blues coach's latest on forward after McKay friendly fire in win". Fox Sports. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ "Will Harry ever meet Ben? The curious case of the McKay twins". Australian Football League. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ "Blues' McKay fuels fire on social media". Zero Hanger. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
- ^ "Harry and Ben McKay have talent spotters looking twice ahead of AFL national draft". amp.theage.com.au. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ "Harry McKay". AFL Tables. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
External links
[edit]
- Harry McKay's profile on the official website of the Carlton Football Club
- Harry McKay's playing statistics from AFL Tables
- Harry McKay at AustralianFootball.com
