Isabelle Maree Kelly (born 20 September 1996) is an Australian

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays for the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

in the

NRL Women's Premiership The NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) also known as the Telstra NRL Women's Premiership due to sponsorship is a rugby league competition in Australasia for female players. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is contested by ...

and the

Central Coast Roosters The Central Coast Roosters, formerly Central Coast Centurions, are an Australian rugby league football club (previously known as the Rip or Storm) based in the Central Coast region in New South Wales. They competed in the New South Wales Cup w ...

in the

NSWRL Women's Premiership The NSWRL Women's Premiership, known as the Harvey Norman NSWRL Women's Premiership due to sponsorship from Harvey Norman, is the top level of women's rugby league football in New South Wales, Australia. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League, ...

. Primarily a , she is an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

and

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

representative.

Background

Born in

Gosford, New South Wales Gosford is a Waterfront (area), waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic v ...

, Kelly played her junior rugby league for the Berkeley Vale Panthers. Her father, Ken, played for the

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...

in the 1980s, while her brother, Dylan, played for Manly's under-20'sand NSW Cup, played for Burleigh Bears Queensland Cup and represented his state in the NSW Blues resident squad in 2016.

Playing career

In 2015, Kelly made her debut for

, scoring their only try in a 4–all draw with Queensland. In 2017, she was a member of the Jillaroos

2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the fifth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup and was held in Australia between 16 November and 2 December 2017. Pool and semi-final matches was held at Southern Cross Group Stadium in Sydn ...

winning side, scoring the first try in the final against

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. In June 2018, Kelly was announced as one of fifteen marquee signings by the Sydney Roosters women's team which will participate in the inaugural

in September 2018. On 22 June 2018, Kelly scored two tries for New South Wales in their Women's State of Origin win over Queensland and was awarded the Nellie Doherty Medal for Player of the Match. In Round 1 of the 2018 NRL Women's Premiership, Kelly made her debut for the

, starting at centre and scoring her side's only try in their 10–4 loss to the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

. On 10 September 2018, she was named the

NSWRL The New South Wales Rugby League Ltd (NSWRL) is an Australian rugby league football competition operator in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory and is a member of the Australian Rugby League Commission.It was registered on 21 ...

Women's State of Origin Player of the Year at the

Brad Fittler Bradley Scott Fittler (born 5 February 1972), also known by the nickname of "Freddy", is an Australian rugby league commentator, television presenter, and former player. Fittler captained both New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales ...

Medal awards in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. In November 2018, she became the inaugural winner of the Women's Golden Boot Award. On 27 September 2020, Kelly captained the

to an undefeated win of the NSWRL Women's Premiership. During the

NRLW The NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) also known as the Telstra NRL Women's Premiership due to sponsorship is a rugby league competition in Australasia for female players. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is contested by ...

game between St. George Illawarra Dragons and

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

on 10 October 2020, Kelly was involved in an incident in which Broncos player Amber Hall pulled her hair and tackled her. Landing on her ankles, she suffered from a

syndesmosis A syndesmosis (“fastened with a band”) is a type of fibrous joint in which two bones are united to each other by fibrous connective tissue. The gap between the bones may be narrow, with the bones joined by ligaments, or the gap may be wide a ...

injury and was aided by

crutches A crutch is a mobility aid that transfers weight from the human leg, legs to the upper body. It is often used by people who cannot use their legs to support their weight, for reasons ranging from short-term injuries to lifelong disabilities. Hi ...

temporarily. On 16 May 2024, Kelly captained the NSW Blues Womens for first game of the first ever three game Women's state of Origin series. She was announced captain again for the

for the 2024 NRLW season. She finished the normal season with three tries, two of which were scored against the

St George Illawarra The St. George Illawarra Dragons are an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since 1999 after a j ...

in round 4, which the Sydney Roosters won 28-8. On 2 October, Dally M Night, Kelly collected Centre of the Year, as well as being nominated for captain of the year. She played in both of the Sydney Roosters finals games, including their 32-28 win in the NRLw Grand Final against the

Cronulla Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league compet ...

References

External links

St George Illawarra Dragons profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Isabelle 1997 births Living people 21st-century Australian sportswomen Australian female rugby league players Australia women's national rugby league team players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin Women players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Gosford, New South Wales Sportswomen from New South Wales St. George Illawarra Dragons (NRLW) players Sydney Roosters (NRLW) players