Collingwood delist CEO’s son, fringe players re-sign
Collingwood have delisted Will Kelly, the son of club chief Craig Kelly, and re-signed three players on the fringes of their side.
In a bitter-sweet post-script to the Magpies’ premiership for the Kelly family, the 23-year-old has been let go by the club after five games in as many seasons in the black and white.
Hit hard by injury across his first three seasons, including a dislocated elbow on debut in 2020, Kelly had a clearer run at it under Craig McRae in 2022-23 but was unable to consistently put his name up for senior selection as the Pies rose.
The door is still ajar for Kelly, who has been told by the Pies he will be considered to train with the squad over summer if they have spots available for next year’s pre-season supplementary selection period.
Kelly’s father Craig was a member of the Magpies’ drought-breaking premiership team in 1990 and took over as chief executive in January.
“We thank Will for all that he has put in across five seasons with the club,” Pies football boss Graham Wright said.
“Unfortunately for Will, he has faced injury challenges that have kept him out of the AFL side, but his strong willpower and ability to develop through our VFL program should be commended.”
Nathan Kreuger and mid-season rookie draftees Aiden Begg and Josh Carmichael have put pen to paper on fresh one-year deals.
Meanwhile, Essendon have given mid-season recruit Jaiden Hunter another year, and Gold Coast have delisted Jeremy Sharp and Jake Stein.
Sharp, a wingman selected with pick 27 in the 2019 draft, attracted interest from Fremantle in last year’s trade period, but remained with the Suns after the clubs could not agree to a deal.
North Melbourne youngster Brayden George faces an interrupted pre-season after undergoing surgery to repair a dislocated elbow suffered in the off-season at home in Wangaratta. The Kangaroos do not expect the injury to rule him out for round one but he is unable to join full training for 12 weeks.
Leave a Reply