Coach Guy McKenna said Keath, a 196cm key-position prospect, was likely to play a handful of matches for Gold Coast this year but the club’s main concern was ensuring that whatever sport the gifted teen chose, his body was prepared for the rigours ahead.
Keath has been hotly pursued by both sports, especially after starring for Australia in its win at the under-19 cricket world cup in New Zealand earlier this year.
His performances there - and at state junior level - prompted Victorian coach Greg Shipperd to announce Keath was set to be offered an unprecedented three-year senior contract as an incentive to stay with bat and ball.
McKenna said the Shepparton youngster would finish his schooling in Melbourne this year and Gold Coast simply wanted what was best for him.
“We want to prepare him to play football but we also want to prepare his body for a career, whether that’s a 15-year career in cricket or a 15-year career in football,” McKenna told afl.com.au.
“Obviously we hope he chooses football, but we want to be able to put our hands on our heart and know that we did the best that we could for Alex.
“If that means improving his body so he has a 10 or 15-year career, fantastic.”
Gold Coast was able to recruit a dozen 17-year-olds late last year provided they were born between January and April 1992.
Gold Coast listed Keath despite the Melbourne Grammar student unlikely to make a firm commitment to either sport until the end of this year.
McKenna said his club had remained in regular contact with Keath and was looking forward to seeing him play some matches for them in 2010 in the VFL competition.
“He hasn’t signed any of the contracts - the football or the cricket contracts,” McKenna said.
“As far as we understand his cricket commitments, nationally and statewide, are winding up, so we’ve sorted him out with a weights program, we’ve got some supplements down to him because as we said to him, we want to make sure that when he plays for us - which he’s keen to do this season - his body is able to handle it.
“If there’s a risk of his body breaking down, we don’t want to be the ones putting our hand up saying ‘oh geez we caused that injury to Alex Keath’.”
Meanwhile, McKenna has been readying his young squad for their first season in the VFL - which will start with a home match against Port Melbourne on April 10.
While the coach suggested a 9-9 season record would be a “fantastic result” for the new club, McKenna is looking at the bigger picture.
“It’s not in my KPI to win the VFL grand final. This year’s all about getting these boys ready for 2011,” he said.
McKenna’s squad has been training three nights a week and the former Collingwood assistant is excited by the talent he has seen.
While Josh Toy, another of the club’s 17-year-old recruits, will stay in Melbourne this year and finish his schooling - therefore only making occasional appearances for Gold Coast - gun recruit David Swallow looks certain to make an impression in his first year under McKenna.
“Looking at the body and the way he plays, there’s not a great deal I’m going to be teaching him (Swallow) to be honest,” the coach said.
“To get him over and get him into the lifestyle, get him into the routine of what it’s like to be at an AFL club, those things you can’t measure how much of a benefit it’s going to be.”
