Long serving Eagle Keelan Fejo reaches a major games milestone in his playing career

UNSUNG Wanderers midfielder Keelan Fejo has reached a significant milestone in a playing career in blue-and-gold that stretches back to junior football in the late noughties.

Keelan Fejo played his 100th game in a Wanderers jumper in the big semi-final loss to Nightcliff. Picture: Wanderers Media

KEELAN Fejo’s 100th senior game in a blue-and-gold Wanderers jumper represented a major achievement for a player who has given 12 seasons to the club.

The 27-year-old will remember his milestone game for all the wrong reasons after the undermanned Eagles were brushed aside by a classy Nightcliff side.

But their top-three finish after the minor rounds and a brilliant win over St Mary’s in the qualifying final has guaranteed them the chance of taking a longer route to the March 20 NTFL grand final.

Fejo, a product of the Eagles’ under-16 program that has produced a series of readymade league footballers, is confident his side can rebound from the setback.

“I’ve been through a lot of ups and downs at Wanderers and this one was definitely a downer for the team, but a big thrill for me to reach 100 games,” he told the NT News.

“But we had a number of blokes out who have been key players all year and we’ll get them back for Saints (in the preliminary final).”

Essentially a midfielder who can play on a wing or half-forward where his leg speed and hardness at the ball are big assets, Fejo has played in two grand finals for Wanderers, both of them losing efforts against St Mary’s.

“But I played with Red Cliffs in Victoria’s Sunraysia League with (Eagles coach) Shannon Motlop and we won two premierships down there,” he said.

“It would be good to get back to a grand final with Wanderers.

“But we need our best side out there and hopefully that will happen from next week.”

Good news for Wanderers and their fans is the return of the league’s leading goalkicker Brett Eddy, barnstorming midfielder Josh Cubillo, classy midfielder Marlon Motlop and big marking forward-ruckman Liam Patrick for Saturday night’s preliminary final against the Green Machine at TIO Stadium.