Geelong star Tim Kelly opens up about his future

Geelong star Tim Kelly has opened up about his future, admitting he is unsure where he’ll be next year, but says his focus was solely on helping the Cats wins the premiership in 2019.

Geelong midfield star Tim Kelly says he is “100 per cent committed” to the Cats this season, but admits he is unsure whether he will be at the club next year.

Kelly, whose future will again be a talking point all year, said his focus was solely on helping deliver Geelong a premiership in 2019, confident he can improve on his breakout season.

Out-of-contract at the end of the season, Kelly, who has three young children with partner Caitlin Miller, said he had “loved every second” of his second year so far at the Cats.

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The 24-year-old last year asked for a trade back to his home state Western Australia for family reasons.

But Geelong and his preferred home West Coast couldn’t come to an agreement during the trade period and Kelly was forced to see out the final year of his deal at the Cats.

“I can’t predict the future, but one thing I can say is that I’m 100 per cent committed to this year and (helping) Geelong winning the flag this year,” Kelly says in the Geelong Advertiser’s Dawn To Dark magazine.

“I’ve loved every second of being back at the club. My family and I have loved every second of being back in Geelong.

“And we’re really excited about what this year’s going to bring not only on-field, but off- field.

“I’ll be making sure I’m bringing my best footy, playing my best footy I can for the club and whatever happens at the end of the year will happen and I’ll deal with it then.”

Tim Kelly in action for the Cats in the JLT Series last week. Picture: Getty Images

Kelly was one of the revelations of the AFL last season, quickly becoming a key member of Geelong’s midfield.

He finished 2018 equal-second in the Cats’ best-and-fairest, averaging almost 23 touches per game.

Kelly said he had enjoyed a strong pre-season ahead of Geelong’s Round 1 clash with Collingwood and was keen to take his game to a new level in 2019.

“This pre-season I feel I’ve improved. Fitness-wise, with all my stuff in the gym, the way I’m running has definitely gone up. So, hopefully that can show in games,” he said.

“I think I’ve set a bar and an expectation. I think my teammates have an expectation of what they know I can bring to the table come game day. So for me it’s about making sure I show up, I’m ready to go and perform.”

Kelly said he expected to play more of a midfield role this season with the high profile move of star Gary Ablett to the forward line.

“Last year was pretty 50-50 either midfield or forward, but I think it’s going to be a lot more midfield this year,” he said.

“But again, we’ve got a lot of guys who can roll through there and I’m sure there’s going to be times where I do find myself forward.”

Originally published as Geelong star Tim Kelly opens up about his future