NRLW 2024: Roosters star Isabelle Kelly opens up on the family tragedy helping her push through the pain
NRLW star Isabelle Kelly has opened up on the heartache of losing her mum, and how the tragedy changed her relationship with pain, as she carries a busted elbow into the grand final.
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Courageous Sydney Roosters skipper Isabelle Kelly routinely pushes her body to extremes because she has an unfortunate wisdom that comes with worse pain.
Days before she leads the Roosters onto Accor Stadium against Cronulla to chase her second NRLW premiership, the private star has opened up about the tragic death of her mum Maree 11 years ago.
Kelly was just 17 when her mum suffered a brain aneurysm, suddenly ripping her from the young Central Coast family at the age of 50.
It was a senseless and scary tragedy that has reverberated through the lives of the Kelly family since.
As the Australia and NSW star prepares to play through yet another painful injury, a dislocated elbow she suffered less than a fortnight ago, she draws strength from knowing she has survived far greater.
“I’ve been through a lot of tough things in my life mentally, and I lost my mum when I was quite young, so I reflect on that as something that I’ve been through a lot worse in my life and why I’m willing to do everything I can for this team,” she says.
“I adore this club. I adore everyone that’s part of it. I just think back to the tough times that I’ve gone through before, and take that as a bit of motivation that nothing’s going to be ever as hard as that time that I went through.”
SUDDEN TRAGEDY
The 28-year-old is one of the biggest stars in rugby league, but Maree never even got to see her play.
“She had a brain aneurysm, so it was super sudden,” Kelly explains.
“It was something that happened to my mum, and then it kind of skipped a generation. So it happened to my nan’s mum as well.
“It’s a bit scary, but she was 50, and she lived a great life.
“She had beautiful kids, a beautiful marriage, and was so very loved, so at the end of the day, that’s all you can ask for.”
The devastation brought the Kelly family close together, with dad Ken left to raise Isabelle and her two brothers Dylan and Jack.
“I’m a very private person, and family for me is the biggest thing. And my dad means the world to me. My brothers mean the world to me,” she says.
“I don’t like to reach out too much and tell much about my story, because everyone goes through something in their life that is absolutely horrible, but all my friends know and people close to me.
“But it’s a huge motivator for me and why I play, and why I feel like I can push through things as well.”
RUGBY LEAGUE TIES
Her father, former rugby league player Ken Kelly who played for Manly in the 1980s, eventually settled with Maree at Berkeley Vale on The Central Coast, where the family was heavily tied to the local rugby league club.
That’s where the love of the game blossomed for the Roosters skipper.
With her dad as president and mum as secretary of the club, she would spend weekends running through the canteen and watching her brothers play.
“Playing rugby league is something that was really close within my family and really close with her,” she says.
“I find that I have a big connection with her when I’m out there playing on the field.
“She never got to see me play rugby league, but that’s okay.
“Rugby league’s always been a massive part of my life, and I still remember sitting there watching Origins and all of us as a family just screaming the house down.”
It goes without saying that for a teenage girl on the verge of adulthood, Kelly needed her mum at such a pivotal time in her life.
The impact of an enormous loss like that, so sudden and unfair, has a ripple effect.
PAIN THRESHOLD
It’s why Kelly’s relationship with pain is a complicated one.
Last season she suffered an horrific throat injury in the opening State of Origin game that put her in Westmead Hospital’s intensive care unit for two days.
She was cleared of a larynx fracture after heavy contact with Queensland winger Julia Robinson, but the swelling was traumatic and she struggled to breathe while coughing up blood.
It rocked her, no doubt, but she backed up to play Origin II three weeks later showing courage through her fears.
On Sunday she played with heavy duty strapping on her right elbow just seven days after dislocating it, brushing off concerns her season was over.
“It actually subluxed, so it went back in. I didn’t have to deal with it staying out, which was great. I probably would have fainted, but yeah super painful,” she says of the injury.
“But rugby league is a sport where injuries are obviously going to happen, and they’re very common.”
Not only did she play and win the semi-final against Newcastle, she ran 152 metres (the second most behind Millie Elliot on 157 for the game) and seven tackle-breaks, despite sitting out the final 20 minutes of the game.
Living, in all its suffering and glory, is what she intends to do for her mum.
“I’ve always had a thing that she missed out on so much in her life,” she says.
“And I want to live my life feeling and doing as much as I can, and really live my life to the fullest.
“I think sometimes we take for granted how special life is and what we can do.
“And I think for me, that’s where I find my motivation as well.
“And I love pushing my body to the limit. I love being able to do things that you might not think you’re able to do.
“And I think leading this team has really showed me that.”
INJURIES MOUNTING
She still hasn’t missed a game for the Roosters in six seasons at the club.
It’s a remarkable record for a player of Kelly’s power, but a welcome statistic for the Roosters who have been dealt another heavy injury toll this season.
Fellow representative centre Jess Sergis spent six weeks sidelined with an MCL injury, while halfback Tarryn Aiken missed a fortnight with an AC joint injury she will need to have needled to take on the Sharks on Sunday.
Star fullback Corban Baxter also suffered an ACL injury in the pre-season, which brought former Jillaroos captain Sam Bremner out of retirement as a favour to coach John Strange.
Bremner, who will officially retire after the grand final, has never won an NRLW premiership across her 15 year rugby league career.
Giving Bremner the send off she deserves is just another motivator for Kelly, as if she needs another reason to win.
After winning the 2021 premiership, the Roosters have been bumped out of back-to-back semi finals before this season and the feeling burns.
“It’s something that I held on to for quite a long time, and I know that I’m only one person out on that field, but I take a huge responsibility for it,” she says.
“It’s something that I use as a motivation. It’s really driving me to get the win.”
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Originally published as NRLW 2024: Roosters star Isabelle Kelly opens up on the family tragedy helping her push through the pain
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