Why City v Country Origin matters to Brian Kelly Sr and his gun son

THIS weekend marks the last City v Country fixture. But for Brian Kelly Sr and his son - the Manly rookie tearing it up in the NRL - it will be something special.

• HONOUR ROLL: Every City and Country player in 100 years

SOMEWHERE out there is an old Country Seconds jersey.

On the back, No.15.

And if you’re that fella who stole it from a car parked outside Kyogle footy ground in 1985 ... well, Brian Kelly Snr wants it back.

“Even if only to wear once more,’’ he says. “Because to be photographed with my son, for both of us to be in our Country jerseys together, that would be special.”

Wouldn’t it what?

Indeed, here in the final days of this Country farewell, something of a last call for the game they say no longer ­matters, old man Kelly is a ­reminder that, yeah, it does.

Proof that, out bush, a Country jersey is worth ­keeping.

Brian Kelly (left) of the Manly Sea Eagles and his father, Brian Kelly, will both have represented Country after this weekend. Picture: Wayne Cousins

Worth chasing.

Even worth stealing.

And for that, he gets to be out there with his boy this Sunday.

For while his own playing strip may have been stolen decades ago, Kelly Snr will still be remembered among those 1500 names printed onto the jerseys of every Country player — including his son and Manly Sea Eagles namesake, Brian Kelly Jnr.

Which may seem surprising to Sydneysiders.

For Andrew Johns, yep, you get why his name is on there. Same deal Bob Fulton, Peter Sterling, even the enigmatic Ewan McGrady.

Yet the real heartbeat of Country Origin is the anonymous bush flyer who, these days, works in a little factory out by Ballina airport.

His place on the honour roll coming before Queanbeyan United’s Graham Kelly, and after Robertson Spuddie, Bill Kelly.

Two more players nobody knows, either.

Not outside their home towns, anyway.

Which is the point.

For unlike his son, the rookie Manly centre who, in only nine NRL appearances, has put the code on notice, Kelly senior never made the big time.

His one Country appearance was the highlight for years of bush toil.

Yet still, he matters.

They all do.

Over 106 winters, the tally reaching 1496.

And, yes, we know City have done the same.

Sea Eagles forward Curtis Sironen is set to run out in a jersey carrying the name of his famous father, Paul.

Yet more than for men like Joey, Bozo and Blocker, Country Origin is forged by the big names in small towns.

Country's Brian Kelly relaxes in camp ahead of the last every City v Country fixture. Picture: Gregg Porteous

And out here, everybody knows one.

Which is why, again, that farewell jersey isn’t only covered in Immortals and Kangaroos, but Lithgow Shamrocks, Moree Boomerangs, Cessnock Goannas, even Coonabarabran Unicorns.

And now, young Kelly gets his turn, too.

A chance to add his own storyline to that of his father — and a thief.

But more on that shortly.

First, come back with us to 1985 as a wiry bush winger — a fella “with a lot more hair than I have now” — walked inside his Lismore local, ordered a Reschs and reached into his pocket for the shrapnel required to buy it.

“But the bloke behind the bar, he said ‘nah, it’s free’,” Kelly recalls. “I asked why and he replied, ‘haven’t you heard, you’ve just been ­chosen for Country’.

“I said, ‘well I’ll be buggered ... better make it two beers then’.”

And just like that, his place on the last ever Country strip was confirmed.

Roughly 32 years ago this week, running out against a City Seconds team boasting Terry Lamb, Greg Alexander and Cliffy Lyons.

Brian Kelly in action for Manly where he debuted this year. Picture: Gregg Porteous

Up front, Royce Simmons, Graeme Wynn, even Paul Langmack.

Kelly wearing No.15 because, as was custom, Country Firsts owned the first 13 numbers.

“And over the weekend just gone, I found the tape of dad playing,’’ his son tells League Central. “It’s on a Facebook page, up with all these other old footy videos.

“Which is great because dad, he’s a big part of why I’m here. First person I called after being selected.

“We talk all the time and he gets down to Sydney whenever he can ... he gives me plenty of tips.”

And as for what he thought of the old man’s form back in ‘85?

“Ah, it was pretty funny,’’ he grins.

“He had real long hair.”

Indeed, when he runs out in Mudgee this Sunday, the rising Sea Eagles flyer will do so on the same wing his old man played. And in a jersey bearing his name.

But as for that Country Seconds original?

Brian Kelly poses with Country teammates ahead of the 2017 clash. Picture: Gregg Porteous

“Nah, stolen,’’ Kelly Snr says. “Back in ‘85, I played for Country Seconds on Saturday afternoon in Newcastle and then, that night, caught a bus home to Lismore.

“When I got in Sunday morning, I went straight home, threw all my footy gear in the car and then drove to Kyogle to play.”

Went OK, too.

“I scored the first try in the pouring rain and mud,’’ he laughs.

“But we got beat.

“Then afterwards when I got back to my car, the Country jersey was gone.

“It went ‘walkabout’.”

Sadly, after Sunday, the ­entire Country concept is headed the same way.

A truth old man Kelly doesn’t think is fair.

Or right.

For just as rugby league is Immortals and Origin, so it is every country jersey ever worn.

All of them special.

All of them part of something far bigger, too.

Just ask that Kyogle thief.