Arthur Frederick Kelly (born Christmas Eve 1886 in

Petone Petone (Māori: ''Pito-one''), a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. The Māori name means "end of the sand beach". Europeans first settled in P ...

, New Zealand) was a

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

er who was part of the professional 1907-1908 New Zealand rugby tour of Great Britain.

Early years

Kelly was an apprentice, working for the

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...

Rugby Football

Kelly, from the

Petone Rugby Club The Petone Rugby Football Club was founded in 1885 and has been the Wellington Premier Champion 39 times between 1895 and 2005. In addition, the club has won the Club Championship on 42 occasions between 1922 and 2005. Petone is a constituent cl ...

, was one of

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) 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 second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

's most promising young talents and was renowned for his tackling abilities. However, when in

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

he was involved in a bet over his tackling skills. Kelly played a club game in Nelson and, winning the bet, received "liberal expenses". His form was so impressive that

selectors reportedly offered him a place in the teams Seddon Shield representative side.John Haynes ''From All Blacks to All Golds: Rugby League's Pioneers'', Christchurch, Ryan and Haynes, 1996. This led to the story of what had happened getting out and the

New Zealand Rugby Union New Zealand Rugby (NZR) is the governing body of rugby union in New Zealand. It was founded in 1892 as the New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU), 12 years after the first provincial unions in New Zealand. In 1949 it became an affiliate to t ...

charged him with professionalism, which would have resulted in a lifetime ban from

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

. The charge could not be proven but instead he was found guilty of playing under an assumed name and was banned for three years. This left him eager to accept opportunities to play rugby elsewhere.

Rugby League

As a result, Kelly joined the professional All Blacks in their tour of Great Britain and Australia, ironically receiving the lifetime ban from the New Zealand Rugby Union that he had narrowly avoided earlier. He was one of six players from the

selected. He played in three test matches on the tour and scored the first try in the first ever

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

test match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, his only try of the tour.R League: The day Wales made history
Wales on Sunday, 23 December 2007 He returned to New Zealand with the touring party but signed with St. Helens in December and returned to Great Britain. He was St. Helens first ever overseas signing. He became a popular figure in St Helens and this led to the club signing another of the touring team,

Hubert Turtill "Jum" Hubert Sydney Turtill (1 February 1880 – 9 April 1918) was a New Zealand dual-code footballer, playing rugby union and then rugby league for New Zealand. After emigrating to Britain, he served in the British Army during the First World ...

. Kelly later became the captain and

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

of the "A" Team and led them to win the Lancashire Shield in 1913–14. On the outbreak of War Kelly joined the ''Corps of Colonials'' in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. Kelly survived the War and lived out his later years in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

. He died in Oldham in 1965.

References

External links

Arthur Kelly
''Saints Heritage Society'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Arthur 1886 births 1965 deaths British Army personnel of World War I New Zealand national rugby league team players New Zealand people in rail transport New Zealand people of Irish descent New Zealand rugby league coaches New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand rugby union players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league wingers St Helens R.F.C. players Wellington rugby league team players Wellington rugby union players