Phil Kelly inducted into the WA Football Hall of Fame

Dual Sandover Medalist Phil Kelly earns latest honour with WA Football Hall of Fame nod

Phil Kelly put a stake in the ground when the West Australian Football League was at its zenith.

Before Fremantle and West Coast were the flagbearers for football in this state, the 1978 and ’79 seasons were considered among the greatest in WAFL history.

They were tough, skillful and high-scoring, after the introduction of the modern interchange system – and the left-footed East Perth winger won the Sandover Medal in both seasons, relegating Claremont icon Graham Moss and Stephen Michael legend into second place.

But just as the Sandover win was sinking in came a stop sign in the second semi-final when his shoulder was “opened up” in a big loss to a Perth side in the hunt for a hat-trick of flags.

Kelly turned a four to five week injury into a 14-day recovery, through hard work and some magic from legendary trainer Ted O’Callaghan, missed the 112-point preliminary final victory over South Fremantle, but somehow got back in time to upset the Demons in a second-half downpour and despite a seven-goal masterclass from the late Peter Bosustow.

Kelly played under duress and just as he anticipated, his shoulder was “tested” early in the game.

“I was so fired up it wouldn’t have mattered. I recall a few physical situations, but nothing that worried me too much,” said Kelly, who had played for the Royals in their 1976 grand final defeat by Perth.

“I was as motivated as I have ever been for a game of footy. For the contest and all the physical elements of it. Whatever was going to happen was going to happen and you weren’t concerned at all about getting hit or running into a contest.

“With that huge downpour in the last quarter it became an absolute quagmire. Only one player on the ground was making it look like it was dry weather and that was Peter Bosustow. Unbelievable.

“I remember having this great fear halfway through the last quarter that we’d done everything right, we were almost there, and it looked like we were going to lose. And then to win the game, have people invade the ground. We were all soaked, it was absolutely chaotic.

“It was a really difficult time for me to get through and to maintain my confidence. To get over the injury and then you come out and to perform reasonably well on the on the big day was a perfect outcome.”

“I never fully appreciated what we as a team achieved at the time. It was great on the day but I just assumed more success would follow. On the Monday following the grand final, I was completing an assignment for my (physical education) studies.”

Kelly, 68, a resident of Melbourne since shifting to the VFL to play with North Melbourne in the early 1980s, is returning to Perth on Monday to claim another “major”, induction into the WA Football Hall of Fame.

“It’s a great, humbling” Kelly said.

Kelly grew up in Pemberton – his father Rex worked on a stream train carting logs to the local mill – and played all his junior football in Busselton. After winning Under-16s and 18s fairest-and-best award, kicking more than 100 goals in the latter season, he was invited to train with East Perth. But he was in no hurry.

“I loved my footy, but I wasn’t passionate about a career. In those days, you didn’t envisage football as being a career. It was a recreation activity,” he said.

“When I moved to Perth, I initially went down to University to train, hoping to try out for seniors and I remember getting told that the first-year players all had to play under 18s or under 19s. That was the rule. So I thought I might as well take East Perth up on that invite and give it a go.

“You look back at decisions you make at stages in your life and everything could have been so different.”

The year was 1975, he played 10 games in the Colts, one in the reserves and the last 10 games in the seniors, including a career-defining performance against South Fremantle in a losing semi-final.

“I was pretty happy, even though we lost, that I was able to be competitive,” he said.

The following season he was a surprise selection for his first state game against South Australia in May, 1977, had a leading hand in a famous seven-point upset win at Football Park. He went on to represent WA twice more that year and again in 1978. All up Kelly played six times for WA.

By the late 1970s his precision and length by foot and marking ability made him a VFL target and North Melbourne recruiting guru Ron Joseph took the first step in a dance about 18 months before Kelly landed at Arden Street.

He had five VFL seasons with North Melbourne before a plethora of soft-tissue injuries terminated a decorated senior career at the age of only 28.

“Whenever I strung a few good games together, I’d have a setback. Not a lot of science in those days. Rest and stretch then try again. I remember getting picked for a State of Origin game and tearing a hammy the week before,” he said.

“I’d always had a pretty low key approach to footy and that suited me at East Perth. In Victoria. It was different. It was very much in the media, your performances were monitored and commented on with a far more higher level of scrutiny. So that was pretty difficult for me.

“I always ensured football did not consume me. It had its place in my life but I had other interests and a developing career, so when the time came to retire, it was pain free.

“In terms of the footy, I found it a more contested style, more physical, and of course, the Melbourne weather was a bit of a shock as well.”

Ross Glendinning, the 1983 Brownlow medallist and a teammate of Kelly at both East Perth and the Kangaroos, said the player they called “Chook” was a “quintessential player for that period”.

“At East Perth his running capability was just extraordinary. He wasn’t quick, but he could run at the same pace from the first bounce right through to the final siren. He was a very solid kick. Left footer. Rarely had to kick on his right foot,” Glendinning recalled.

“But it was his marking too, his overhead marking. Long arms, rarely fumbled overhead and could mark in a pack, which for a wingman in those days, and then certainly coming to Melbourne, held him in great stead.

“It was a more physical game in Melbourne as it was, slightly smaller grounds like Arden Street and Princes Park and Moorabbin. You couldn’t avoid a contest.

“But he was courageous. A natural athlete, but also read the game very well. His ability to get to position whilst not quickly because he was always on the move, had him in the right spot quite often.”

Kelly repaid the compliment, describing Glendinning as the best he played alongside.

“There was something about him, he was stronger, he kicked the ball a mile. He had an enormous chest, he was quick. Everything about him was elite. And he was a good bloke too,” Kelly said.

Kelly settled in Victoria with his wife Trish, worked in the IT industry until his retirement 18 months ago, and they produced two kids, Laine and Josh, the latter making a name for himself as a Greater Western Sydney gun, although he will miss the start of this season through injury.

“It became quite a journey for the whole family just to follow his progress,” Kelly said of Josh, an All-Australian who has played 230 games for the Giants and twice won the best and fairest Kevin Sheedy Medal.

“He was a bit small and skinny when he was young but he grew a bit and he always had really good skills. So just to watch him go through the various pathways, that he was offered when he was growing up. He always wanted to from a very young age, wanted to be an AFL footballer, which is, you know, quite different to me. I never had that sort of desire.

“He wanted to be a footballer. He wanted to do whatever it took. To see him get through the system and then just getting told that he might get drafted was exciting and then on draft night itself was fantastic.
“And then a few days later he was off to Sydney.

“We’ve taken a backseat just following him around as a supporter the last 10, 12 years. It’s been fantastic for the whole family.”

Written by Glen Quartermain, The West Australian