Josh Kelly reveals he initially thought he would leave GWS for North Melbourne’s mega offer last year
GWS STAR Josh Kelly was offered huge money by North Melbourne and despite thinking early last year he would leave the Giants to become a Kangaroo, his decision became easy as the season wore on — and he went the other way.
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FOR every nightclub-hopping AFL bad boy, there are dozens who quietly start charities and visit sick kids in hospitals.
Some players are pitched as mercenaries when they leap clubs for fat contracts but many pass up huge figures to stay loyal.
Josh Kelly will probably retire filthy rich with more money than you or I could dream about.
Yet last year he turned down the rolled-gold guarantee of $7 million.
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In a world where people cross to a business rival for $20,000 and a car park, it’s worth repeating again.
Thanks, but no thanks.
In a game where careers are over in the wrench of a knee or the crack of cartilage, he just politely declined.
You think that was hard?
Kelly had to knock it back and then tell his mum Trish.
The 23-year-old, who ended up signing a two-year, $1.6 million deal, sits at GWS headquarters charting the most turbulent year of his short career.
Stressed?
He looks like he doesn’t have a care in the world, comfortable he made the right decision after withstanding a full season of speculation.
But Mum?
“Mum said, ‘Right decision, but I wish I had you back.’ Something like that,’’ chuckles Kelly.
“They were great to me, mum and dad (Phil) were always there for an honest chat along the way.
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“They basically left it up to me, they let me make all the important decisions with their guidance and help.”
Talk to anyone within GWS and they use words to describe Kelly like methodical, process-driven, fastidious.
The story goes that when it came to buying his first car he spent months researching, comparing models, racked with uncertainty until he had done the work.
That personality trait might have also kept him in Sydney.
Just three seasons and a few months into his AFL career, former No.2 pick Kelly suddenly exploded as a bona fide AFL star.
And then the bomb dropped.
Not only had Kelly been offered the second-biggest deal in AFL history by North Melbourne, it was the club his father Phil played 61 games as a wingman.
Kelly admits to News Corp there were times he believed he would return home.
“No doubt early on (I was leaning towards leaving),’’ he says.
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“It was a bit like, ‘There is a bit happening here. I am from Melbourne, how could I not (accept it)?’.
“But people close to me said, ‘Let it sit, play out the year. See how you feel and don’t make any rash decisions’.”
He admits the sheer scope of the money on offer seemed impossible to ignore.
“Yeah, that was the thing early on when the story broke and I found out (about the offer) for the first time. It was obviously a bit of a shock and a bit surreal, what was being chucked around.
“There is no doubt early on, even my teammates were giving it to me a bit and I thought, ‘Maybe they are right?’
“But it all become clear to me once the season went on. For a long time I put it on the backburner and the Giants just said they didn’t need anything from me and let me focus on footy.
“So I was able to speak to the right people, my family and friends and Leon (Cameron) and our two captains and come up with a decision I was comfortable with.
“Probably a few weeks out from the finals I started to have a gut feel about staying at the Giants.
“I started to feel that way and then wanted to sit on it for a bit and it ended up being before the prelim that it was announced I had committed.
“So it was all a bit of a whirlwind.”
If Kelly admits dodging the summer spotlight is much more relaxing, he believes the contract drama actually spurred him to greater heights.
As Billie Jean King famously said, pressure is a privilege.
“It was something I didn’t plan for or expect but I feel like it was something that helped my development,’’ Kelly says.
“All of a sudden I had this expectation on my shoulders and people expected me to be a player that justified what was going on in the media.
“I enjoyed that expectation of having to compete. I feel like it fast-tracked my development, no doubt.
“I had gone from being a player who had a solid third year, good start to my fourth year, and then that popped up.
“I felt like I could push it to the side or use it as motivation to be the player I could be.”
That kind of pressure has cracked tougher players, but his response to the baying Tigers crowd on preliminary final night is instructive.
He won’t soon forget the deafening roar of the preliminary final, a roiling cauldron of Tigers supporters packing the MCG.
“To be honest it was a pretty surreal day. I have never played in front of a crowd like that before. A crowd so big and with so many Tigers supporters,” he said.
Intimidating?
“No, I wouldn’t say intimidating. Maybe for some players it was, but I was in awe of it and felt pretty excited by the whole occasion.”
Teammate Toby Greene spent Grand Final day on a party boat moored off an island in the middle of Sydney Harbour without a care in the world.
That’s just Toby, God love him.
Greene was tucked up on the couch letting the anger burn.
“I watched it. I have watched the last two from home. It’s been hard but I think it drives you, watching the Bulldogs and Richmond hold up the cup,” he said.
“It’s been tough, but I feel like it’s fuelled the fire a bit. For a long time people outside have said it will be gifted to the Giants.
“We never bought into that. We feel like we have had two pretty solid years but if you are not there with the cup on Grand Final day you aren’t successful.”
As a result, he has spent the summer tapping into Giants’ streamlined game plan and his own personal goals.
Leon Cameron is adamant the Giants need to build a “better brand” for September that is clearly built on forward pressure and restricting opposition ball flow.
The Giants had 16 forward-half tackles in their JLT win over Collingwood, but they will play more of an 18-man press too.
“We tried a few things last year that didn’t eventuate,’’ says Kelly.
“This year we want to go back to moving the footy in a way that suits how we play and then improve defensively.
“That is the footy that holds up in finals. We have worked on that over summer with a few little changes and acknowledging teams are better at moving the footy now.
“It all starts with the forwards when teams are exiting the defence, but for them to do their job us as mids and defenders need to put up and make sure there aren’t easy options coming out.”
Kelly’s improvement will come from improved clearance work and picking when to hit the near-impossible kick and when to pull back.
It is put to him that like Nathan Buckley before him he is always keen to bite off the hardest possible kicking option.
“There is no doubt I have always been a bit like that — it’s a strength of my game but there is no doubt I could rope it back a bit and play the easy options,” he said.
“But my role is to go for it and make plays. Developing my inside game is a big one.
“I need to keep working on that to mix it up with some of the better contested players in the competition.
“I was able to take up a step up with my footy last year and improve but now I feel there is that expectation on me to maintain that level if not go better.
“I am looking forward to that. It’s something I feel like I have dealt with well. I want to be the best player I can be and live up to that expectation.”
Oh, and that car he spent months researching?
No flashy Lamborghini or Rolls Royce for one of the AFL’s smoothest movers.
“Volkswagen Jetta,” he says with a grin.
“I was a bit like I just needed a car and I was thinking about it all too much.”
Originally published as Josh Kelly reveals he initially thought he would leave GWS for North Melbourne’s mega offer last year
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