James Kelly Reveals His Brutal Phone Call With Mark Thompson

"I heard that and I was devastated"


Article heading image for James Kelly Reveals His Brutal Phone Call With Mark Thompson

(Image: Getty)

Milestone man James Kelly saw his time at Geelong end in 2015.

But it almost came to a close well before that.

Kelly, who plays his 300th game this weekend, revealed to Fox Sports' AFL Today he was nearly traded by Geelong at the end of 2006.

The Cats had a disappointing season in 2006, and Kelly found out after that year's trade period he'd nearly become a victim of it.

“I had a phone call with 'Bomber' afterwards: he told me that they nearly traded me and the club could’ve been a better place without me," he said.

"I heard that and I was devastated. That’s not who I wanted to be and not the player I wanted to be."

Kelly described the phone call as "the real kick in the butt that I needed".

“It was hard to hear, but I needed to hear it. If I didn’t hear that, I wouldn’t have changed the way I trained and the way I lived,” Kelly said.

12 May 2017




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