OVERCOMING a stunning team defeat was top priority for Nicholas O’Kearney on the way to being named Vic Metro’s most valuable player at the recent AFL under-16 national championships.
The Keilor junior captained Vic Metro at the championships in Western Sydney, where the team would beat eventual division 1 winner Vic Country.
But starting the tournament with a 128-point hiding at the hands of South Australia caught everyone by surprise.
O’Kearney felt a responsibility to lead his team after being stung by SA.
“To be honest, I didn’t see it coming against South Australia. I don’t think anyone did,” he said.
“In the next game we went back to playing one-on-one footy and winning our own contests. The coaches challenged us with some non-negotiables . . . and we never gave up after falling eight goals down in the second quarter.”
Vic Metro came back to beat Vic Country in game two before a battling loss in the final match against WA.
O’Kearney was recognised as Vic Metro’s most valuable player in the tournament for his consistent performance across the three games.
“I was hoping for a better team result,” he said. “But I thought I was consistent over the week. There’s always room for improvement but in the three games I put my best foot forward in all of them.”
O’Kearney made his senior Essendon District Football League debut for Keilor as a 15-year-old last year and has played seven senior games in the past two seasons.
He returned to Rob Stafrace’s team for EDFL under-16 division 1 finals.
“Senior footy took a while to adapt to but it has given me a lot of confidence,” O’Kearney said. “I learnt a lot, the main thing being how fit you have to be to get to the next level.
“Extra endurance definitely helps. And I’ve got to put on a bit more size to play as a senior midfielder. I’m working on my tackling, to stick my tackles and keep competing.”
Among a host of Calder Cannons from the Barry Davis U16 squad was O’Kearney’s Keilor teammate, Tylar Vujanic.
The duo played juniors together from under-10s through to EDFL interleague teams and now the state team.
