Josh Kelly (Australian footballer)

Josh Kelly
Kelly playing for Greater Western Sydney in June 2017
Personal information
Full name Joshua Kelly
Date of birth (1995-02-12) 12 February 1995 (age 29)
Original team(s) Sandringham Dragons (TAC Cup)/Brighton Grammar
Draft No. 2, 2013 national draft
Height 184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 83 kg (183 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current club Greater Western Sydney
Number 22
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2014– Greater Western Sydney 215 (139)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2020 Victoria 1 (4)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Joshua Kelly (born 12 February 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Greater Western Sydney Giants in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited by the Greater Western Sydney Giants with the second overall selection in the 2013 national draft.

Kelly had a breakout year in 2017, winning inclusion in the All-Australian team and finishing fifth in the Brownlow Medal. He was named in the Greater Western Sydney Giants leadership group in 2018 where he remains as Vice-Captain.[1] Josh Kelly began his football career as an Auskicker at East Brighton in Melbourne's south-east before being drafted at pick two in the 2013 NAB AFL Draft. Kelly is the son of Phil Kelly, who played 61 games as a wingman for North Melbourne in the 1980s and won two Sandover Medals in the WAFL. He won the GIANTS Rising Star Award in his first season and become a mainstay of the Giants' midfield in just a few short years. Kelly was elevated into the club's official leadership group ahead of the 2017 season in just his fourth year in the AFL, and after a stunning 2017 season was named vice-captain in 2018.

In December 2021, Kelly was named, along with Toby Greene and incumbent Stephen Coniglio, as co-captain of the club.[2] In February 2023, Kelly and Coniglio were named vice-captains as Greene was named the sole captain.[3]

AFL career

[edit]

He is the son of Phil Kelly, who played 109 games and won multiple Sandover Medals for East Perth in the West Australian Football League and then moved to the Victorian Football League, playing 61 games for the Kangaroos from 1981-85.[4] He also has a younger sister, Laine Kelly. During the AFL combine he showed elite endurance, finishing the 3 km time trial with a time of 9 minutes and 32 seconds (the second fastest ever in testing).[5] He was educated at Brighton Grammar School, alongside fellow 2013 draftees Christian Salem and Jayden Hunt.

He was nominated for the 2014 AFL Rising Star award after featuring in Greater Western Sydney's 32-point win over Melbourne in round 3.[6]

Kelly had a stellar 2017 season, being named in the All-Australian team and finishing fifth in the Brownlow Medal. In the opening rounds of the season, it was confirmed that North Melbourne had made a $9 million contract offer.[7] He eventually re-signed with the Giants at the end of the year on a 2-year contract; the amount was not disclosed.[8]

Kelly was a key member of the Giants‘ 2019 finals campaign which saw the team reach its first grand final. He managed 27 disposals and was named in the best players in the team’s four point preliminary final win against Collingwood.[9]

Statistics

[edit]
Statistics are correct to the end of 2024[10]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2014 Greater Western Sydney 22 18 13 7 168 144 312 55 58 0.7 0.4 9.3 8.0 17.3 3.1 3.2 0
2015 Greater Western Sydney 22 18 7 12 172 150 322 70 66 0.4 0.7 9.6 8.3 17.9 3.9 3.7 0
2016 Greater Western Sydney 22 24 14 16 301 265 566 90 94 0.6 0.7 12.5 11.0 23.6 3.8 3.9 6
2017 Greater Western Sydney 22 24 19 24 338 370 708 85 156 0.8 1.0 14.1 15.4 29.5 3.5 6.5 21
2018 Greater Western Sydney 22 16 10 13 253 168 421 58 82 0.6 0.8 15.8 10.5 26.3 3.6 5.1 10
2019 Greater Western Sydney 22 17 14 11 281 211 492 67 90 0.8 0.6 16.5 12.4 28.9 3.9 5.3 11
2020[a] Greater Western Sydney 22 14 5 8 177 132 309 42 58 0.3 0.5 12.6 9.4 22.0 3.0 4.1 8
2021 Greater Western Sydney 22 23 16 15 333 268 601 82 129 0.7 0.7 14.5 11.7 26.1 3.6 5.6 11
2022 Greater Western Sydney 22 21 9 9 295 265 560 93 101 0.4 0.4 14.0 12.6 26.7 4.4 4.8 13
2023 Greater Western Sydney 22 22 16 8 286 306 592 64 97 0.7 0.4 13.0 13.9 26.9 2.9 4.4 8
2024 Greater Western Sydney 22 17 16 6 221 192 413 71 62 0.9 0.4 13.0 11.3 24.3 4.2 3.6 6
Career 215 139 129 2831 2480 5311 779 1000 0.6 0.6 13.2 11.5 24.7 3.6 4.7 94

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Media, Giants (5 March 2018). "Kelly Elevated to Vice-Captain as 2018 Leaders Announced". GWS Giants.
  2. ^ "Trio to Lead GIANTS into Future". Greater Western Sydney Giants. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Greene to Lead GIANTS into New Era". Greater Western Sydney Giants. 15 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  4. ^ Zell, Alison (22 November 2013). "Like Father, Like Son". GWS Giants.
  5. ^ Twomey, Callum (22 October 2013). "30 days to the draft: Meet gun prospect Josh Kelly". Australian Football League.
  6. ^ King, Travis (7 April 2014). "Josh Kelly caps off Giants' Rising Star dozen". Australian Football League.
  7. ^ Gleeson, Michael (4 April 2017). "North Melbourne Kangaroos offer Giants Josh Kelly nine-year $9 million deal, says ex-AFL executive Brian Waldron". The Age.
  8. ^ "Reference at www.dailytelegraph.com.au".
  9. ^ McGowan, Marc (21 September 2019). "Gargantuan: Depleted Giants shock Pies to reach first Grand Final". AFL.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  10. ^ "Josh Kelly". AFL Tables. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
[edit]
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