Luke Kelly (rugby league)

Luke Kelly (born 13 October 1989) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who most recently played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League, as a five-eighth or halfback.

Luke Kelly
Personal information
Born (1989-10-13) 13 October 1989
Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia
Playing information
Height181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight86 kg (13 st 8 lb)
PositionFive-eighth, Halfback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2009–12 Melbourne Storm 6 0 0 0 0
2012–16 Parramatta Eels 41 3 14 2 42
2017 South Sydney 2 0 0 0 0
Total 49 3 14 2 42
Source: [1]

Background

Luke Kelly was born in Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia.

Background

After starting out at the Katherine Bushrangers in the Northern Territory Rugby League competition,[2] Kelly then moved to boarding school in Sydney, where he starred as a playmaker at fame league nursery, St Gregory's College, Campbelltown. Kelly was discovered by Storm scouts at a NSWCCC tournament and, after one year with the Western Suburbs Magpies SG Ball side, moved to Melbourne to play in the National Youth Competition. Cousins with rising star winger Joel Dempsey who is currently playing years beyond his age. At only the age of 16 the young winger is a prospect Will Chambers has earmarked as the next Josh Addo Carr.

Playing career

Melbourne

Kelly was the captain of the Melbourne Storm National Youth Competition winning team in 2009. He was the man of the match in final win over the Wests Tigers. He made his NRL debut against the Parramatta Eels in 2009 in round 17 of the 2009 NRL season.

Kelly played in four NRL games in 2010, three of these came in succession at the back-end of the season.

Parramatta

Kelly joined the Parramatta Eels mid season in 2012 and made his debut for the club against the Penrith Panthers in round 16, where Parramatta won 19-18. Kelly played 4 games for Parramatta in his first season at the club as they finished last on the table and claimed the wooden spoon for the first time since 1972.[3]

In June 2013, Kelly was one of 12 Parramatta players that were told that their futures at the club were uncertain by coach, Ricky Stuart.[4] Kelly made a total of 18 appearances for Parramatta in the 2013 NRL season as the club finished last for a second consecutive year.[5]

Kelly was limited to only six appearances for Parramatta in the 2014 NRL season as the club narrowly missed out on the finals.[6]

On 16 May 2015, Kelly played his first game of the season against the New Zealand Warriors. Kelly missed all 3 conversions including one right next to the uprights. With New Zealand leading by one point with 3 minutes to go Kelly kicked a field goal to make it 13-13. Parramatta lost the game in golden point 17-13.[7]

South Sydney

In October 2016, Kelly signed with the South Sydney Rabbitohs for the 2017 NRL season, as cover for regular halves Adam Reynolds and Cody Walker.

On 3 March 2017, Kelly made his debut for the South Sydney Rabbitohs against the Wests Tigers in the first round of the NRL season. On 5 August 2017, Kelly scored an individual solo try in North Sydney's victory over Wests Tigers 42-10.[8] On 1 September, Kelly was recalled to the Souths side to replace the injured Adam Reynolds in the final game of the regular season against his former club Parramatta.[9]

At the end of the season it was announced on the official South Sydney website that Kelly was one of the players whose contract would not be renewed for next year and would be leaving the club.[10]

On 29 January 2018, Kelly announced that he had retired from Rugby League as a player and moved into a role behind the scenes as a player well-being manager at Souths.[11]

References
  1. "Luke Kelly - Career Stats & Summary - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  2. Kossatch, Nick (14 February 2015). "Katherine product shows class in red centre". NT News. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  3. "Season review: Parramatta Eels". www.nrl.com.
  4. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/parramatta-eels-players-watched-their-axings-on-the-big-screen/news-story/760e2fcc03d240479bddf8919155258e
  5. "Parramatta Eels work to erase bitter memories of 2013's wooden spoon season". Daily Telegraph.
  6. "2014 NRL season reviews of the New Zealand Warriors and Parramatta Eels". news.com.au.
  7. "Bodene Thompson the difference as new zealand warriors edge Parramatta". Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. http://www.nswrl.com.au/news/2017/08/05/report_wests_tigers_.html
  9. http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-match-report/paramatta-eels-winger-semi-radradras-hattrick-seals-topfour-spot-against-south-sydney-rabbitohs-20170901-gy9b5f.html
  10. http://www.rabbitohs.com.au/news/2017/08/18/rabbitohs_farewell_d.html
  11. "Luke Kelly takes up new role". Katherine Times.
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