Luke Keary won over many new admirers following his eye-catching debut for Ireland and he will be hoping to impress a few more familiar ones when the Wolfhounds take on Lebanon in their crucial Rugby League World Cup Group C clash in Leigh on Sunday.
The Sydney Roosters standoff won Grand Finals in the NRL with both his current club and South Sydney but rated Ireland’s opening 48-2 win over Jamaica in Leeds last Sunday as one of the proudest moments of his career.
It was made more special by the presence of his parents, Jim and Diane, in the crowd at Headingley and he will have the support of even more family at the Leigh Sports Village.
Keary, who won two caps for Australia in 2018, qualifies for Ireland through his grandfather, who hails from Loughrea, and was keen to honour his father’s roots.
“He enjoyed it, he wouldn’t say anything but I think he was pretty proud to see me run out in the Ireland jersey,” Keary said. ”
“I know it would mean a lot to him and his family so it was pretty special having him there at the game.
“They will be there at Leigh and a few of the Irish family are coming over from Galway so it will be special to see them.”
Victory over the Cedars would clinch a place in the quarter-finals for Ireland ahead of their daunting final group game against New Zealand in Leeds next Friday and Keary, whose performance against Jamaica, was enough to earn him a place in the tournament team of the round, says they will go into the game with confidence.
“It’s been good,” Keary said of his time in the Irish camp so far. “Everyone has come together.
“We gelled pretty quickly that first week, had a good week’s prep going into the Jamaica game and I thought we performed okay.
“Defensively we were pretty good but we were a bit scratchy with the ball and there are a few things we want to get better at this weekend.
“I think the pack stood out for me, obviously I hadn’t seen too many of the boys play before I got over here but George King and Liam Byrne impressed me and Frankie Halton and James Bentley on the edge are super players.
“I’m looking forward to them getting a bit of a test this weekend and then obviously that big test, the last one against New Zealand.
“It’s definitely must-win, we need to win two out of three to get through so it’s a massive one.”
Lebanon will be without standoff Adam Doueihi after he was sent off in the Cedars’ 34-12 defeat by the Kiwis but Keary is aware of the dangers posed by Michael Cheika’s men and in particular skipper Mitchell Moses, the Parramatta scrumhalf who played in the NRL Grand Final just three weeks ago.
“Nearly their whole backline has played in the NRL and Mitch is one of the better halves in the NRL so we’re going to improve in a lot of areas,” he said. “We’re going to have to play a lot better.”
Meanwhile, Keary is hoping to get over to Ireland himself after his previous visits to the northern hemisphere for World Club Challenges were confined to the north of England.
“The boys have spoken about it,” he said. “We all want to head over there if we get a chance.
“We get a few days off at the end of the tournament so it would be pretty cool to see a bit of Ireland.”
