James Kelly (Australian footballer)

For other people named James Kelly, see James Kelly (disambiguation).

James Kelly (born 29 December 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

James Kelly
Kelly playing in June 2017.
Personal information
Full name	James Kelly
Nickname(s)	Kell, Pops, The Custodian^[1]
Date of birth	(1983-12-29) 29 December 1983 (age 39)
Place of birth	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Original team(s)	Calder Cannons (TAC Cup) Rupertswood (RDFL)
Draft	No. 17, 2001 national draft
Height	183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	85 kg (187 lb)
Position(s)	Half Back / Midfielder
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2002–2015	Geelong	273 (88)
2016–2017	Essendon	040 0(2)
Total		313 (90)
Representative team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
2008	Victoria	1 (0)
International team honours
2011	Australia	2 (0)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2017. ^2 State and international statistics correct as of 2008.
Career highlights
3× AFL Premiership player (2007, 2009, 2011) 2× AFL Pre-Season Premiership player (2006, 2009) All-Australian team (2011) AFL Rising Star nominee (2002)
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Playing career

 

Kelly playing in 2008.

Since 2001, Kelly has played with the Geelong Football Club. Playing as an on-baller in the powerful midfield, he has shown capability in gaining many possessions and running well, as well as showing great courage. Kelly, is a natural born leader who has played a pivotal role in Geelong's dominant era, one of only twelve players to play in all three of Geelong's recent premierships.^[2]

He was a member of Geelong's 2006 NAB Cup Premiership team, as well as the drought-breaking 2007 AFL Premiership Team. He was also a member of Geelong's losing side in the 2008 Grand Final and their victorious sides in the 2009 and 2011 Grand Finals. He was delisted at the end of the 2015 AFL season, despite averaging 20.5 disposals in 17 games,^[3] he subsequently retired from the AFL before signing with the Essendon Football Club in January 2016 as a top-up player in the wake of the club's supplements scandal.^[4] Under the player top-up rules, he was delisted at the conclusion of the 2016 season,^[5] however, in November he re-signed with Essendon during the delisted free agency period.^[6] On 16 August 2017, Kelly retired from playing AFL after 313 games with Geelong and Essendon.

Coaching career

Kelly joined the Essendon coaching staff for the 2018 season and remained there for three years, retiring in February, 2021.^[7]

Kelly re-joined Geelong as an assistant coach for the 2022 season^[8]

Statistics

^[9]

Legend

G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks

Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals							Averages (per game)
				G	B	K	H	D	M	T	G	B	K	H	D	M	T
2002	Geelong	9	15	7	5	137	85	222	41	49	0.5	0.3	9.1	5.7	14.8	2.7	3.3
2003	Geelong	9	18	6	8	129	109	238	43	55	0.3	0.4	7.2	6.1	13.2	2.4	3.1
2004	Geelong	9	13	9	4	151	84	235	48	41	0.7	0.3	11.6	6.5	18.1	3.7	3.2
2005	Geelong	9	24	13	7	254	178	432	95	83	0.5	0.3	10.6	7.4	18.0	4.0	3.5
2006	Geelong	9	15	7	2	134	119	253	48	40	0.5	0.1	8.9	7.9	16.9	3.2	2.7
2007	Geelong	9	23	11	10	201	246	447	85	84	0.5	0.4	8.7	10.7	19.4	3.7	3.7
2008	Geelong	9	21	8	7	196	232	428	95	112	0.4	0.3	9.3	11.0	20.4	4.5	5.3
2009	Geelong	9	18	2	2	195	212	407	88	55	0.1	0.1	10.8	11.8	22.6	4.9	3.1
2010	Geelong	9	23	7	1	257	301	558	87	140	0.3	0.0	11.2	13.1	24.3	3.8	6.1
2011	Geelong	9	24	5	12	319	258	577	62	186	0.2	0.5	13.3	10.8	24.0	2.6	7.8
2012	Geelong	9	19	2	5	257	213	470	59	128	0.1	0.3	13.5	11.2	24.7	3.1	6.7
2013	Geelong	9	20	10	12	234	202	436	50	153	0.5	0.6	11.7	10.1	21.8	2.5	7.7
2014	Geelong	9	23	0	4	312	176	488	113	89	0.0	0.2	13.6	7.6	21.2	4.9	3.9
2015	Geelong	9	17	1	7	185	163	348	80	71	0.1	0.4	10.9	9.6	20.5	4.7	4.2
2016	Essendon	47	20	2	3	268	238	506	129	86	0.1	0.2	13.4	11.9	25.3	6.5	4.3
2017	Essendon	47	20	0	0	209	196	405	115	74	0.0	0.0	10.5	9.8	20.3	5.8	3.7
Career			313	90	89	3438	3012	6450	1238	1446	0.3	0.3	11.0	9.6	20.6	4.0	4.6

Personal life

In 2008, Kelly was an ambassador for an anti-alcohol-fuelled violence campaign run by the Geelong Advertiser titled "Just Think".^[10] In this role, Kelly appeared in advertising alongside fellow ambassadors, and Geelong teammates, Tom Harley and David Wojcinski.^[10]

Honours

AFL

• 3× AFL Premiership: (2007, 2009, 2011)
• 2× AFL Pre-Season Premiership: (2006, 2009)
• All-Australian team: 2011
• Jim Stynes Medal: 2011
• AFL Rising Star nominee: 2001

Geelong

• Geelong FC Best First Year Player Award: (2002)
• VFL Premiership Player: (2002)

TAC Cup

• TAC Cup Premiership: (2001)
• TAC Cup Team of the Year: (2001)

References

1. Kelly, James (28 April 2009). "Ask James Kelly". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
2. Sewell, Eliza (17 May 2012). "James Kelly a joker in the pack". Herald Sun.
3. Adam Baldwin (3 September 2015). "Will Geelong trio Steve Johnson, James Kelly, Mathew Stokes get lifeline from rival clubs?". Fox Sports.
4. Ryan, Peter (20 January 2016). "Triple flag winner Kelly joins Essendon". Australian Football League. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
5. Twomey, Liam; Salemme, Kate (5 October 2016). "James Kelly will likely return to Essendon to play a second season with the Bombers". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
6. "Essendon officially signs James Kelly and Matt Dea to new deals". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
7. "Kelly: It's been tough to say goodbye".
8. "Kelly Returns to Cats as Assistant Coach". Geelong Cats. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
9. "James Kelly stats". AFL Tables. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
10. Devic, Aleks (5 December 2008). "Just Think campaign reaches new heights". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 16 February 2009.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to James Kelly.

• James Kelly's playing statistics from AFL Tables