Harry McKay (footballer)

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.

Harry McKay
McKay playing for Carlton in April 2018
Personal information
Full name Harrison McKay
Nickname(s) H, Big H, Feathers, Grinch
Date of birth (1997-12-24) 24 December 1997
Place of birth Warragul, Victoria
Original team(s) Gippsland Power (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 10, 2015 national draft
Debut Round 18, 2017, Carlton vs. Brisbane Lions, at the Gabba
Height 200 cm (6 ft 7 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 107 (203)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2023.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Career

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 favours taking set shots from the right side of the ground with a perpendicular run-up and snap kick, even from relatively narrow angles; he favours the conventional drop punt from the left side of the ground.[5]

Family

McKay is the identical twin brother of fellow professional footballer Ben McKay, who plays as a key defender at Essendon and previously at North Melbourne. As of 2023, the two are yet to play an AFL game against each other despite eight years in the league, often as a result of one of the two being suspended or withdrawn late with injury,[6] leading to internet jokes that they are the same player running a fake-twin gambit.[7]

Statistics
Statistics are correct to the end of Round 23 2022[8]
Legend
  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 1023211415711.51.05.52.07.53.50.5
2018 Carlton 101321111033513870231.60.97.92.710.65.41.8
2019 Carlton 1020263016146207125321.31.58.052.310.356.251.7
2020 Carlton 1013211576219757201.61.25.81.67.54.41.5
2021 Carlton 101958†3315431185113273.1†1.78.11.69.76.01.4
2022 Carlton 1019453116948217114252.41.68.92.511.46.01.3
Career 86 174 122 674 185 859 486 128 2.0 1.4 7.8 2.2 10.0 5.7 1.5

References
  1. "PICK 10: Harry McKay". CarltonFC.com.au. Bigpond. 24 November 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  2. Danielle Balales (20 September 2016). "Season review: Harry McKay". Carlton Football Club. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  3. 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.
  4. "2019 22under22 team unveiled". AFLPA. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  5. Russell Gould (15 June 2021). "AFL: Carlton spearhead Harry McKay says snapshot goalkicking is the new normal". The Australian. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  6. "Will Harry ever meet Ben? The curious case of the McKay twins". Australian Football League. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  7. "Blues' McKay fuels fire on social media". Zero Hanger. 30 April 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2022.
  8. "Harry McKay". AFL Tables. Retrieved 5 April 2023.
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