Isabelle Maree Kelly (born 20 September 1996) is an Australian

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 112 ...

footballer who plays for the Sydney Roosters in the

NRL Women's Premiership The Telstra NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's national rugby league competition for women's rugby league in Australia, female players. The first season of the league began in September 2018 with four teams. The league is run by the ...

and the

Central Coast Roosters The Central Coast Roosters, formerly Central Coast Centurions, are an Australian rugby league football club (previously known as the Rip or Storm) based in the Central Coast region in New South Wales. They competed in the New South Wales Cup w ...

in the

NSWRL Women's Premiership The Harvey Norman Women's Premiership is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. It is the only state wide open age competition for women in New South Wales and is run by New South Wales Rugby League. The NSWRL Women's Premiershi ...

. Primarily a , she is an Australian and

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

representative.

Background

Born in Gosford, New South Wales, Kelly played her junior rugby league for the Berkeley Vale Panthers. Her father, Ken, played for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the 1980s, while her brother, Dylan, played for Manly's

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

side.

Playing career

In 2015, Kelly made her debut for

, scoring their only try in a 4–all draw with Queensland. In 2017, she was a member of the Jillaroos

2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby League World Cup was the fifth staging of the Women's Rugby League World Cup and was held in Australia between 16 November and 2 December 2017. Pool and semi-final matches was held at Southern Cross Group Stadium in Sydney ...

winning side, scoring the first try in the final against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. In June 2018, Kelly was announced as one of fifteen marquee signings by the Sydney Roosters women's team which will participate in the inaugural

in September 2018. On 22 June 2018, Kelly scored two tries for New South Wales in their Women's State of Origin win over Queensland and was awarded the Nellie Doherty Medal for Player of the Match. In Round 1 of the 2018 NRL Women's Premiership, Kelly made her debut for the Sydney Roosters, starting at centre and scoring her side's only try in their 10–4 loss to the

New Zealand Warriors The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...

. On 10 September 2018, she was named the NSWRL Women's State of Origin Player of the Year at the Brad Fittler Medal awards in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. In November 2018, she became the inaugural winner of the Women's Golden Boot Award. On 27 September 2020, Kelly captained the

to an undefeated win of the NSWRL Women's Premiership. During the

NRLW The Telstra NRL Women's Premiership (NRLW) is Australia's national rugby league competition for female players. The first season of the league began in September 2018 with four teams. The league is run by the National Rugby League (NRL) and is ...

game between

St. George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint-ve ...

and Brisbane Broncos on 10 October 2020, Kelly was involved in an incident in which Broncos player

Amber Hall Amber Jade Hall (born December 29, 1977) is a professional women's basketball player formerly in the WNBA. Her primary position was forward. High school years Born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Hall was raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, whe ...

pulled her hair and tackled her. Landing on her ankles, she suffered from a syndesmosis injury and was aided by crutches temporarily.

References

External links

St George Illawarra Dragons profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Isabelle 1997 births Living people Australian female rugby league players Sportswomen from New South Wales Australia women's national rugby league team players Rugby league centres Sydney Roosters (NRLW) players St. George Illawarra Dragons (NRLW) players