1950s In 1956, Kelly began playing in the
Ipswich Rugby League competition, first with Railways, and then, two years later, with Brothers. At Railways he played on the same side as
Gary Parcell and
Dud Beattie. At Brothers he was coached by
Dan Dempsey, who had played on two
Kangaroo tours. Kelly was picked as hooker for his first test match against New Zealand. Later that year he embarked on his first
Kangaroo Tour, but pre-existing injuries to his knees hampered his performances on the tour and he played in only 14 of a possible 37 games, allowing
St George player Ian Walsh to cement the spot as starting hooker.
1960–1965 Short of money, Kelly signed an £800 contract to captain-coach with
Ayr for the 1960 season. Upon his arrival, he discovered the five local clubs had pooled their resources to afford the signing, and he was expected to rotate through all five clubs. He would captain-coach a club for a week, and then move on to the next. Kelly had established himself as a Kangaroo representative before he moved to Sydney in 1961. Initially linked to Souths, he eventually chose
Western Suburbs because they offered better accommodation, and, "two big prop forwards", which he insisted was "something I must have". The club initially delayed paying the transfer fee to North Queensland side,
Ayr, while Kelly spent eight weeks recovering from a cartilage operation. With
Ian Walsh the chosen test hooker, Kelly played in no internationals in 1961 or 1962. Before the start of the 1963 season, he asked the Magpies for a trial at prop, as it was thought he, "wrecked his chances in representative sides with the large number of penalties he incurred as hooker". In June, he returned to the Australian team, taking the place of captain
Billy Wilson, who had been dropped for the third match of the series against New Zealand. Making his international debut at prop, he scored a try. He played prop in the first game of the two match series against South Africa, but returned to hooker in the second, replacing Walsh who was sidelined with a broken nose. Kelly was a stalwart of the Magpies sides of the 1960s and played in all of the club's consecutive
Grand Final losses to St. George in
1961,
1962 and
1963. Kelly has said that he believes referee
Darcy Lawler had accepted money to help St George win the 1963 Grand Final. In August 1963, Kelly announced he was unable to undertake the Kangaroo tour due to take place due to financial commitments. He said, "It's a bitter disappointment, and if there was any way I could make the tour, I certainly would." He also withdrew from the interstate match that was due to take place the next day. Three days later, Kelly signed a new contract with the Magpies and revised his position. Kelly made his second
Kangaroo Tour, playing at
prop forward as captain
Ian Walsh was again chosen as . In his third
Kangaroo Tour he was back at hooker.
1966–1969 Missing the first game of the 1966 interstate season after suffering a broken thumb and serving a suspension, Kelly had not taken the field for over a month when he was named captain-coach of NSW for the second game. When told of his selection, a "dumbfounded" Kelly said, "You must be kidding. I have been training. I am fit. I just can't believe it." Kelly was captain-coach of the Magpies from 1966, a position he held for 4 years. Kelly injured himself in the first game of the 1967 season with Wests, and a 10 May news report said he was still suffering from blurred vision and no chance of playing in 10 June test match against New Zealand. Weeks later, having played just one game after returning from injury, Kelly was a "shock choice" for the match. The oldest player in the team, his inclusion was, "a compliment to his great experience and his durability." In the second match, Kelly was sent off after less than two minutes into the game. After his five-eighth
John Gleeson was felled, Kelly retaliated by punching culprit
Robert Orchard in the head. Kelly was the first hooker/prop to be selected for three
Kangaroo tours: 1959–60, 1963–64 and 1967–68. In the first tour match in 67, against Warrington, he had his nose broken in the first scrum of the match. For the first test, it was said, "Kelly, the most important player in Australia's test line up, is agony today with his injured back", but still played in the match. After losing the first test, Australia won the second. The decider was won 11–3 by Australia, with, "the one sour note" of the match being "the dismissal of veteran hooker Noel Kelly only three minutes from the end" after a stiff arm tackle on opposition half
Tommy Bishop. Facing suspension for the tackle, Kelly was allowed to play in the test against France a week later, while waiting for official notification from the English Rugby League to arrive in the mail. The third in the series was Kelly's 28th and last test. Kelly's last game was at the end of the 1969 season, with his team winning their fifth game straight, in a "mire" at Penrith. After leaving Wests, he received a number of inquiries, including one from Canterbury. "One minute I am happily retired, the next I have more offers than ever in my career," a "perplexed" Kelly said. He eventually signed a two-year, $5000 per season contract to join
Wollongong from 1970 but only remained for one season, a period he later said he regretted.
Post-playing Kelly returned to Sydney to coach the
North Sydney Bears from 1973 to 1976, never making the semi-finals. At the end of 1976, having retired from coaching with Norths, he was named to coach a Sydney team in a tour of New Zealand. He became a board member and an ambassador for the Men of League Foundation. In September 2004 Kelly was named as captain and hooker of the Western Suburbs Magpies team of the century. In February 2008, he was named in the list of Australia's
100 Greatest Players (1908–2007) which was commissioned by the
Australian Rugby League and the
National Rugby League to celebrate the code's centenary year in Australia. Kelly went on to be named as hooker in Australian rugby league's
Team of the Century. Announced on 17 April 2008, the team is the panel's majority choice for each of the thirteen starting positions and four interchange players. In June 2008, he was chosen in the
Queensland Rugby League's Team of the Century at hooker. The yearly award for the best forward at the
Wests Tigers club is named the Noel Kelly Medal in his honour. In the
2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, Kelly was awarded the
Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to rugby league. Kelly died on 14 June 2020 in Sydney. He was 84, and had suffered a heart attack–induced stroke on 16 May, one month before his death. ==Footnotes==