KELLY, James

James "Pops" Kelly had a long and decorated career at Geelong before joining the Bombers in 2016.

He was drafted by the Cats with their second pick, 17th overall, in the 2001 National Draft. It was an exceptional draft that year, with the Cats also picking up Jimmy Bartel, Steve Johnson and Gary Ablett jr, superstars all, in the same draft. Kelly went on to become a key player in that club's great midfield before moving to half-back late in his career.

In all, Kelly played 273 games for the Cats, winning premiership medals in 2007, 2009 and 2011, All-Australian selection in 2011, and was twice top four in the club's best and fairest award.

After being delisted by Geelong in 2015, Kelly was lured out of retirement to play as one of Essendon's ten "top-up" players in 2016. His class, experience and coolness under pressure proved valuable to an inexperienced squad depleted by suspensions owing to the Supplements saga.

Kelly played 20 of 23 games in his first season at Tullamarine, ranked third for disposals and fourth in tackles. He finished second in the Club's Best and Fairest award and earned another contract for 2017.

His 2017 season was just as impressive and he again played 20 games of consistent quality, and finished tenth in the Best and Fairest. Appropriately, his 300th game in May was against Geelong and in a rare show of solidarity, he was chaired off by the two captains.

He had become a popular and respected character at Essendon and after he announced his retirement at the end of the 2017 season, he was offered a role as performance coach, focusing on the development of the Club's younger players.

Kelly retired from that role in February 2021 but was coaxed out of retirement by his old club and he returned to Geelong in 2022 as an assistant coach.