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 | 29 December 1983 | ||
| 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 career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2002–2015 | Geelong | 273 (88) | |
| 2016–2017 | Essendon | 40 (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 | |||
| |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Playing career
edit
Since 2001, Kelly 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
editKelly 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
edit 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
editIn 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
editAFL
- 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
edit- ^ Kelly, James (28 April 2009). "Ask James Kelly". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
- ^ Sewell, Eliza (17 May 2012). "James Kelly a joker in the pack". Herald Sun.
- ^ Adam Baldwin (3 September 2015). "Will Geelong trio Steve Johnson, James Kelly, Mathew Stokes get lifeline from rival clubs?". Fox Sports.
- ^ Ryan, Peter (20 January 2016). "Triple flag winner Kelly joins Essendon". Australian Football League. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Essendon officially signs James Kelly and Matt Dea to new deals". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
- ^ "Kelly: It's been tough to say goodbye".
- ^ "Kelly Returns to Cats as Assistant Coach". Geelong Cats. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
- ^ "James Kelly stats". AFL Tables. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
- ^ a b Devic, Aleks (5 December 2008). "Just Think campaign reaches new heights". Geelong Advertiser. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
External links
edit
- James Kelly's playing statistics from AFL Tables