Rosie Kelly (born 16 January 2000) is a

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 ...

professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and

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 ...

player who currently plays as a for the

North Queensland Cowboys The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest city in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL). Sinc ...

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 ...

. She previously played for the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

. She played for

Matatū Matatū is a New Zealand women's professional rugby union team that competes in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. Matatū represents the South Island, specifically the regions covered by the Crusaders and the Highlanders. They were crowned th ...

before joining

Chiefs Manawa The Chiefs Manawa are a New Zealand women's professional rugby union team based in Hamilton, New Zealand, that competes in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. Chiefs Manawa won the inaugural season of the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. They w ...

for the 2025 Super Rugby Aupiki season.

Early life

Kelly was born in the

West Coast region The West Coast () is a region of New Zealand on the west coast of the South Island. It is administered by the West Coast Regional Council, and is known co-officially as Te Tai Poutini. It comprises the territorial authorities of Buller Distri ...

of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

in the small town of

Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of ...

. She fell in love with rugby at a young age and played with the boys’ team until she was eleven. She attended

Christchurch Girls’ High School Christchurch Girls' High School () in Christchurch, New Zealand, was established in 1877 and is the second oldest girls-only secondary school in the country, after Otago Girls' High School. History Christchurch Girls' High School was establishe ...

and was in Year 12 when she was selected in Canterbury's Sevens squad at the end of 2016. She captained her school's first XV's in Year 13 and was a specialist halfback.

Rugby union career

Kelly was a member of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

's winning 2017

Farah Palmer Cup The Farah Palmer Cup (formerly known as Women's Provincial Championship until 2016), is the highest level domestic women's rugby union competition in New Zealand and is named after the former Black Ferns captain, Farah Palmer. It is held annual ...

squad. In November 2020, she was selected for the NZ Barbarians squad to play the

Black Ferns The New Zealand women's rugby union team, called the Black Ferns (), represents New Zealand in women's international rugby union, which is regarded as the country's national sport. The team has won six out of nine Women's Rugby World Cup tour ...

in two matches. Kelly was named in Matatū's squad for their inaugural season of Super Rugby Aupiki in November 2021. She made Canterbury's squad for the 2022 Farah Palmer Cup season, and started at

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

in their opening match against

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. Kelly featured in Matatū's first Super Rugby Aupiki win as they narrowly beat the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

33–31 at the start of the 2023 season. She also scored her first Super Rugby try in the final round of the competition, her side lost to

38–46. She started in the grand final when Matatū defeated defending champions, Chiefs Manawa, to win their first title. On 17 April 2023, Kelly was among 34 players who were given Black Ferns contracts in their build up toward the

2025 Rugby World Cup The 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup will be the tenth edition of the women's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national rugby union teams, organised by World Rugby. It is scheduled to take place in England between 22 August an ...

. In June, she was named in the

30-player squad to compete in the

Pacific Four Series The Pacific Four Series is an international rugby union competition that is sanctioned by World Rugby. It is contested between four women's national teams — Australia women's national rugby union team, Australia, Canada women's national rugby u ...

and O’Reilly Cup. She made her international debut against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 29 June 2023 at

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. She later featured in her sides 21–52 victory over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

at the

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

. She has played four test matches thus far for the Black Ferns against Australia (2), USA, Canada. On 25 October 2024, it was announced that Kelly had joined

for the 2025 Super Rugby Aupiki season.

Rugby league career

On 9 July 2024, the

announced that they had signed Kelly on a one-year contract for the 2024 National Rugby League Women's season. On 7 February 2025, she joined the

, signing a three-year contract.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Rosie 2000 births Living people New Zealand female rugby union players New Zealand female rugby league players New Zealand women's international rugby union players Parramatta Eels (NRLW) players Rugby league centres 21st-century New Zealand sportswomen