Of sound mind and body is precisely where the boy from North Adelaide now finds himself, having overcome a wretched run and finally getting his chance in game number two - albeit briefly - in the final quarter of Saturday night’s match with Brisbane at Etihad Stadium.
And like he said: “Maybe everyone else was buggered, but I did feel really good”.
Taken with Carlton’s fifth round selection (no.65 overall) in the AFL draft, and three years later as a rookie with selection 35, it’s been a long and hard haul for Rhys who at 22 is only now the better for overcoming on-going wear and tear issues with his lower left kicking leg.
“Since my achilles operation last year I had a few setbacks with surgery mishaps that probably wouldn’t have happened to anyone else,” O’Keeffe conceded at Visy Park this week.
“I just had to get through it all, let the bone heal properly and strengthen my foot again. It’s taken a while, but it’s all starting to come together.”
For Rhys, the problem first surfaced last year when the bone behind his achilles began to dig into the tendon. Such was the magnitude of the complaint that Rhys was forced to undergo a procedure in which the surgeon cut into the bone.
“If it had been a case of simply cleaning out the bursa I would have been back on the first day of pre-season. But this was like recovering from a break, these things happen and I’m the better for it now,” Rhys said.
“At worst the ankle would click when I kicked the ball, but I just don’t feel it anymore.”
It should also be said that Rhys’s frame has notably changed since his maiden year of 2008.
“When I first came to the club I was doing the recommended weights sessions for first-year players, but I’d been lifting weights since Under 16s and was reasonably developed,” Rhys said.
“In my first year I put on five or six kilos in the pre-season alone and when I started running I was just a bit too heavy and everything broke down.
Rhys O'Keeffe bursts through the middle of Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
“But all the work in the gym is starting to pay off, and whereas I was 91 kilos I’m now around 86 . . . and I want to try to stay there.”
As late as last Saturday night, Rhys’ teammate Simon White offered a real insight into the lot of a senior AFL footballer, confessing to moments of self-doubt as he battled to get his body right.
Rhys knows the feeling, and yet at no stage let it get to him.
“‘Whitey’ and I were in rehab at the same time together, but you try not to think about it because as soon as you do you’re pretty much done,” he said. “You just block it out of your head and take it day by day . . .
“I’ve always tried to stay pretty grounded. I’ve thought about this year and not wanted to put too many expectations on myself and get too disheartened because everyone has bad days and I’ve had some dark days since I’ve been here . . . but I’m a better person for it now.”
