Ben McKay (footballer)

Ben McKay (born 24 December 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played for North Melbourne after being selected with pick 21 in the 2015 AFL draft.

Ben McKay
McKay playing for Essendon in 2025
Personal information
Full name	Ben McKay
Date of birth	(1997-12-24) 24 December 1997 (age 27)
Place of birth	Torquay
Original team(s)	Gippsland Power (TAC Cup)/Warragul
Draft	No. 21, 2015 national draft
Debut	Round 23, 2017, North Melbourne vs. Brisbane Lions, at the Gabba
Height	202 cm (6 ft 8 in)
Weight	104 kg (229 lb)
Position(s)	Defender
Club information
Current club	Essendon
Number	32
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2016–2023	North Melbourne	71 (1)
2024–	Essendon	35(0)
Total		106(0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 7, 2025.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

McKay grew up in the Victorian town of Warragul in Gippsland. He played local football for Warragul Football Club.^[1]

He attended school at St Paul’s Anglican Grammar.^[2]

Growing up he supported Essendon, the club he would later end up playing for.

AFL career

He was drafted by North Melbourne with their first selection and twenty-first overall in the 2015 national draft.^[3] He made his debut in the fifty-one point win against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba in round twenty-three of the 2017 season.^[4] In February 2019, Ben signed a two-year contract extension keeping him at the Kangaroos until at least the end of 2021.^[5]

Taking time to develop, Ben McKay found consistency at AFL level, playing 11 games in the backline in the 2020 season. A great contested mark and busy player under pressure, McKay continued his form into 2021.

McKay moved to Essendon as a restricted free agent in October 2023.^[6]

Family

He is the identical twin brother of Carlton's Harry McKay.^[7] In round 13 of the 2024 season, they played against each other for the first time in their careers. Before this game, they had never played one another, despite having been in the league for seven years; often as a result of one of the two being suspended or withdrawn late with injury^[8] – leading to internet jokes that they are the same player running a fake twin gambit.^[9] Ben (and Harry) are also cousins with former Port Adelaide and North Melbourne player, Stuart Cochrane. Stuart’s mothers maiden name is McKay.

Statistics

Statistics are correct to 2024^[10]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks	H/O	Hit-outs

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals								Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	H/O	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	H/O
2016	North Melbourne	23	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2017	North Melbourne	23	1	0	0	2	7	9	1	3	3	0.0	0.0	2.0	7.0	9.0	1.0	3.0	3.0
2018	North Melbourne	23	0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	—	—
2019	North Melbourne	23	3	0	1	11	10	21	10	4	0	0.0	0.3	3.7	3.3	7.0	3.3	1.3	0.0
2020	North Melbourne	23	11	0	0	43	59	102	36	17	2	0.0	0.0	3.9	5.4	9.3	3.3	1.6	0.2
2021	North Melbourne	23	22	0	0	99	111	210	95	31	0	0.0	0.0	4.5	5.1	9.6	4.3	1.4	0.0
2022	North Melbourne	23	15	1	0	92	47	139	82	11	0	0.1	0.0	6.1	3.1	9.3	5.5	0.7	0.0
2023	North Melbourne	23	19	0	0	146	86	232	113	22	0	0.0	0.0	7.7	4.5	12.2	6.0	1.2	0.0
2024	Essendon	32	23	0	0	162	141	303	122	32	4	0.0	0.0	7.0	6.1	13.2	5.3	1.4	0.02
Career			94	1	1	555	461	1016	459	120	9	0.0	0.0	5.9	4.9	10.8	4.9	1.3	0.1

Notes