Isabelle Kelly has a complicated relationship with pain.
After dislocating her elbow in the last round of the NRLW premiership regular season, the Roosters skipper had no qualms about taking to the field for the semi-finals a week later.
In her words, “I’ve been through worse”.
The “worse” that Kelly is speaking about is the pain of her mother’s sudden death from a brain aneurysm when she was 17.
Speaking publicly about losing her mother for the first time since starting her NRLW career seven years ago, Kelly said her mum, and her mum’s love of rugby league, was motivation to be back on the field last week.
“I think for me, I’ve been through a lot of tough things in my life mentally,” Kelly said. “I lost my mum when I was quite young, so I reflect on that as something that I’ve been through [that’s] a lot worse in my life, and I’m willing to do everything I can for this team.
“I adore this club, I adore everyone that’s part of it. So for me, 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.”
Kelly grew up in Berkeley Vale on the Central Coast of NSW, where her dad, Ken, was the president of their local rugby league club, and mum Maree was the secretary. Maree never got to see Kelly play rugby league.
“Rugby league is something that was really close within my family and really close with her, and I find that I have a big connection when I’m out there playing on the field,” Kelly said.
“I used to grow up there [around the rugby league club] and go hang out in the canteen and run around as a little girl and be a part of all that watching my brothers [Jack and Dylan]. So yeah, 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.
Roosters captain Isabelle Kelly after dislocating her elbow against Parramatta.Credit: NRL Photos
“It’s just something that I have a massive connection with my family, and my dad, and my brothers, and then also, when my mum was here.”
It’s something Kelly thinks about a lot when she’s on the field, not just in the difficult moments when she needs that extra bit of motivation.
“I reflect on it quite a bit. I think also for me, I’ve always had a thing that she missed out on so much in her life, and I want to live my life fulfilling and doing as much as I can, and really live my life to the fullest,” she said.
“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. 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.”
Kelly is a player who typically keeps her cards close to her chest. When she was admitted into a hospital intensive care unit last year during women’s Origin after copping a forearm to the throat, almost three weeks went by before she spoke of the incident.
But as she prepares to lead her team out on Sunday, the connection between life, love and rugby league remains.
“I’m a very personal person, and family for me is the biggest thing, and my dad means the world to me, and my brothers mean the world to me,” Kelly said.
“I don’t like to reach out too much and tell much about my story, but also because everyone goes through something in their life that is absolutely horrible, but all my friends know and people close to me, but yeah, that’s just a huge kind of motivation to me with why I play, and also why I feel like I can push through things as well.”
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