In 2002, his first season, the teenage Kelly was hailed as a future football superstar.
He played 15 games, a couple of which he ripped open with some stunning performances in the Cats midfield. And in a year when Gary Ablett Jnr, James Bartel, Steve Johnson and Jarad Rooke débuted, he won the club’s award for the best first-year player.
But by the end of 2003, despite playing three more matches than the previous year, he had apparently contracted the aforementioned affliction.
Kelly, still a teenager at 19, provides his own diagnosis:
“I think my problem was that I was trying to do too many things at once,” he reflected, a fortnight into pre-season training.
“And I’ve just got to sort of slow down a bit. I know I’m not going to be a superstar player in one year, so I’ve just got to slow down, take it one step at a time and try not to get too far ahead.”
Kelly says he got ahead of himself and that lofty expectations – both his, the fans’ and coaches’ - got the better of him.
“In my first year I was just playing carefree footy and I had no expectations. (This year) I’d put all these expectations on myself, on what I wanted to do and all that sort of stuff. And I just got caught up in thinking about doing it rather than just doing it.”
“I sort of thought with the year I had in my first year, I sort of thought in my second year I’d just be able to come in and play every game and play well every game. I was thinking that right from the start, but as soon as we’d go in and play hard every week it put me on the back foot straight away.”
Kelly was demoted for four matches this year, including a three-week stint between rounds 13 and 15. It wasn’t ideal, but it reminded him of the freedom he’d felt as a fearless newcomer in 2002.
“While I didn’t really enjoy being dropped, I actually enjoyed playing down there.”
“I’ve always had fun playing with the boys in the twos. It’s a lot more relaxed and you can go back and just play, not easy footy, but it’s easier on your mind,” Kelly said.
The club’s most experienced player, veteran midfielder Peter Riccardi, is one of Kelly’s mentors and was a valuable influence during the year.
“’Ricco’s’ the same whether you’ve played good or you’ve played bad. He’s one of those people who can help you out with stuff like that.”
Now that he’s had the experience, Kelly hopes he can control things a little better in 2004.
“This year I want to get rid of all that sort of stuff and just get back to playing footy I know I can play.”
“I’m trying to get and fit and as strong as I can this year so I can have the best year I can in 2004.”
And he believes his philosophy should extend to all his young teammates at Geelong.
“I think it’s at the point now where we can’t just hide behind being young. We’ve got to step up and start playing like men.”
“And we’ve all got to want to get a group of players that want to play the same way and do the right things every week. We’re beyond being young now, we just want to get into it and start winning some games and playing serious footy and matching it with the top sides. And we know we can do that.”
