Adelaide defender Mark Keane says it wasn’t hard to spot his Crows teammates in the crowd at one of his hurling matches in Ireland.

Keane, who signed a three-year contract extension with the Crows in September, returned to his hometown County Cork with the Club’s blessing during the AFL off-season.

Although he did so at the end of the 2023 AFL season, this year’s homecoming had a different feel, with his Adelaide teammates paying him a visit.

Keane said he enjoyed playing host to his Aussie mates and showcasing his talents in the sport he grew up playing.

“It was good to have nine or 10 of the boys come over and watch me play hurling,” Keane said.

“They stood out like a sore toe, everyone in my local town could see them from a mile away.

“They all were saying ‘the Aussies are in town’, but it was great to have them over.”

Keane returned to the Crows’ West Lakes headquarters on Monday, with the side’s pre-season training officially kicking off.

He said lining up with his local hurling team, Cork, as well as his Gaelic club Mitchelstown, during the AFL off-season allowed him to feel refreshed and ready to attack another campaign with the Crows.

“I went back home for eight or so weeks and played Gaelic football, and hurling as well,” Keane said.

“Unfortunately we didn’t get to the Grand Final but we made the Prelim in both (hurling and Gaelic.

“I’m really thankful to the Club for allowing me to play Gaelic sports when I went back home. 

“For me to be able to play it (during the AFL off-season) doesn’t really give me that itch to go back full-time.”

The 24-year-old key defender played 21 games in 2024, cementing his spot in Adelaide’s backline, where he shone in one-on-one contests, in the air and with ball in hand under pressure.

He has now played 31 games in four seasons after starting with Collingwood in 2020 and reviving his AFL career with the Crows last year.

Keane’s decision to re-sign with the Crows came from his desire to be part of what the Club was building.

“It was exciting to have interest from different Clubs but the decision to stay here was always on the cards,” Keane said.

“With such a young group coming through, and now with Welshy (Tyler Welsh) and Drapes (Sid Draper) coming in and our new recruits, it’s only going up. Hopefully we can build on that and it’s really exciting for our young group.

“I was back in Adelaide three weeks before pre-season started and it was good to get back and train with the boys, which I had never done before in my career.

“When I first came back, I knew I had a lot to catch up on again, as I had missed 18 months of the game, but I feel like I’ve come a long way and I’ll just keep building on that.”