AFTER proving plenty of doubters wrong on the national stage last year, Western Australia has some emerging talent coming into 2025. Among them is Swan Districts midfielder Blake Kelly, who led all comers with 31 disposals in his side’s opening round win over West Perth.

The 183cm ball winner was forced to shake a tough tag, though he looked in good stead for the physicality of the contest having played a senior practice match in preseason. He also featured three times for WA’s Under 18 side last year, including a best afield outing against the Allies.

Kelly, whose elder brother Luke currently plays for the Swans’ League side, was part of the Colts team which made last year’s Grand Final. His average 20 disposals was immediately built upon in game one as a top-ager, and we put his performance under the Player Focus microscope.

Swan Districts, Western AustraliaMidfielder

Blake Kelly

Height: 183cm

Weight: -

DOB: 03-01-2007

PLAYER FOCUS

2025 WAFL Colts: Round 1
Swan Districts 11.5 (71) def. West Perth 4.10 (34)

#3 Blake Kelly (Swan Districts)
Stats: 31 disposals (17 kicks, 14 handballs), 4 marks, 4 tackles, 4 inside 50s

Centre Bounce Attendances (CBAs):
Q1: 5/6 | Q2: 1/2 | Q3: 4/5 | Q4: 3/4 | Total: 13/17

FIRST QUARTER:

Swan Districts dominated field position and the scoreboard in term one, booting four unanswered goals within 15 minutes of the opening bounce. Kelly was in the thick of the action and even assisted the first goal with a sharp inboard kick to Jamie Sidebottom at half-forward.

West Perth applied plenty of physical pressure to him though, with Zane Gartrell taking on tagging duties. The Falcons role player ended up with eight disposals and 13 tackles in an indication of his intent. Still, Kelly forced himself to the ball and was willing to compete hard.

The repeat stoppage nature of the game meant Kelly hardly got a clean look at possession in time and space, but leant on his work rate to pick up some outside ball as a receiver. Such application helped him shake the tag to an extent, given his primary ball winning was blanketed.

SECOND QUARTER:

The second quarter was a largely uneventful one in terms of scoring, with West Perth breaking the deadlock after a 19-minute armwrestle. The strong breeze prevented Swan Districts from stretching their lead, and kicking to the disadvantaged end meant Kelly could rack up possessions in the back half.

He had a little purple patch as the Swans looked to control possession and pick off short passes, dictating play in the kick-mark foray. It seemed at times as if the tag had dissipated, but it was very much still a factor at stoppages, where Kelly was made to absorb contact and fend off opponents.

In those instances, he lacked for explosive pace and the pressure seemed to impact his handling. He was caught in possession trying to brush off a couple of tacklers late in the piece, and despite getting his hands on the ball, West Perth did well to nullify the effectiveness of his contested possessions.

THIRD QUARTER:

Kelly continued to be swamped every time he won first possession at the contest, although he was strong enough to stand in tackles and shrug off a few. As was the case before half time, he found a way to win easier possessions by lurking for hand-offs and being an outlet on the overlap.

Having shown some good vision to make measured decisions by hand and foot, Kelly showed greater urgency in resorting to more quick long kicks once he got his hands on the ball. One of his best moments for the quarter was a stoppage shark and spin out of trouble to boot the ball inside 50.

FOURTH QUARTER:

It was more of the same for Kelly in term four, as Swan Districts only just built on a six-goal buffer at three-quarter time to win by 37 points. He made some good reads to peel off and time his runs as a secondary receiver at stoppage, wanting the ball in his hands even having been jumped on all game.

Kelly had a few more opportunities to take ground and possess the ball with less heat on him, though showed a bit of rust in putting too much air on his kicks. Still, he can be forgiven in the first match of the season – one where his body would have been weary after picking up a game-high disposal tally.

SUMMARY

Kelly is somewhat of an old school midfielder in that he cracks in, is reliable and gets the job done each week. He looks to be a leader among the Swan Districts group with his constant encouragement to teammates, and looks physically ready to earn a senior call-up at some point this season.

Having attracted a tag, Kelly showed he was up for the fight and battled hard to will himself to the ball, even if he was quickly wrapped up each time. He then found different ways to rack up possessions, becoming a receiver at stoppages with clever runs and working hard to impact around the ground.

Improvement will come for Kelly if he can continue to develop a second position – likely up forward as he has done in the state setup – and enhance his scoreboard impact. Hurt factor will be a key trait to harness if he can work on his explosive speed and precision kicking to compliment his ball winning nous.