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Cricket legend Shane Warne says Western Bulldogs trade target Alex Keath is made of the right stuff

Shane Warne says defender Alex Keath’s resilience to fightback from the worst night of his sporting career shows the Western Bulldogs-bound defender is made of the right stuff.

Keath — who will miss a chunk of his first pre-season at Whitten Oval after leg surgery — played under Warne at Melbourne Stars in the early seasons of the Big Bash League.

But the all-rounder had a forgettable night when Shaun Marsh blasted 27 runs off one over that flipped a semi-final in 2012-13 against Perth Scorchers, which the Stars eventually lost on the final ball.

“Either me or him were going to bowl that one over, and I decided to back ‘Keathy’ in,” Warne told the Sunday Herald Sun.

“It was a wet ball and I was like, ‘I should bowl this over, we’ve got one to make up … nah I’ll give it to Keathy, this’ll be good for him’.

“I saw how distraught and how upset and how disappointed he was with how the over went. “So I was interested to see how he responded from it, because some people go either way.

“And to see him playing footy now, he’s a really determined fella and he really cares.

“Watching him after that over I wanted to put my arm around him and say, ‘It’s OK — it happens, it’s all right’.

“And I just think he’s got it. He’s a really smart person in a sporting sense, I think he cares, he’s passionate about it, he’s a hard trainer and he can read the play really well.

“He’s a good thinker, so I think he’s a very good sportsman. The Dogs will be very happy to have him.”

Keath was 20 when Marsh carted him for five consecutive boundaries and two years later he was on the Crows’ list as a Category B rookie.

But while Marsh got hold of the Shepparton talent, few AFL forwards have been able to.

Keath, 27, has since played 30 promising games as an intercepting star and is certain to be traded before Wednesday’s 7.30pm deadline.

While Adelaide wanted to involve pick No.13 in the Keath trade, the Dogs are determined to take their first-round pick to next month’s national draft.

Keath knocked back interest from St Kilda and Hawthorn to choose the Dogs in a big boost, given the departures of Marcus Adams (Lions) and Dale Morris (retired).