Australian Football

Phillip Kelly commenced his league career with East Perth in 1975. After a slow start, he came good in 1978 under the coaching of Barry Cable. Kelly later admitted that Cable had inspired him to much greater levels of commitment and motivation, and this paid off handsomely in the form of Sandover Medal wins in both 1978 and 1979, together with the club 1979 fairest and best award. Playing on a wing, Kelly was one of the Royals' best in their 1978 Grand Final win over Perth. He could also do a job on the ball, and knew how to kick goals, amassing a total of 73 in his 109 senior appearances for East Perth.

In 1981 he crossed to North Melbourne where he spent the last five seasons of his career, playing 61 VFL games and kicking 42 goals. After impressing at first his progress was undermined by hamstring problems. Phil Kelly was chosen to represent Western Australia six times. In June 2006, he gained selection as a wingman in East Perth's official 'Team of the Century 1945 to 2005'.

Author - John Devaney