Isabelle Kelly used the pain of back-to-back finals exits to help her overcome the physical pain of a dislocated elbow and lead Sydney Roosters to Sunday’s premiership decider against the Sharks.
Kelly spent the week leading up to the Roosters 25-16 elimination of the Knights with her right elbow in a brace after suffering a dislocation, ruptured ligaments and bone bruising in the Round 9 match against the Eels.
Yet Kelly insisted she would not miss the semi-final at Allianz Stadium and the star centre joined returning stars Tarryn Aiken (AC joint) and Jess Sergis (knee) to help inspire the Roosters to an impressive defeat of the back-to-back premiers.
“I feel that the last two seasons we fell short and that’s really hurt as a player and as a captain,” Kelly said. “I just knew that I was going to do everything that I was capable of to make sure that I was up for selection for this round.
“I put my body on the line for these girls and this club, and I’m just super inspired by every single player that I get to play with in this team, so if I could just go out there and just do my job defensively and work hard for those girls and get us to that grand final, that’s all I wanted to do.”
Roosters coach John Strange said the courage of Kelly and her determination to play, along with Aiken and Sergis, had inspired their team-mates.
Aiken was initially told after injuring her AC joint in Round 7 that her season was over, but she played with the aid of painkilling injections and padding on her shoulder, while Sergis returned six weeks after suffering an MCL injury.
“Izzy last week dislocated her elbow and ruptured a ligament. I’m in awe of what she’s done. It was only seven days ago,” Strange said.
“I spoke to her on the Monday when she got the scans back and she was really sore – she had heavy bone bruising as well – but there was not any thought from Izzy that she wasn’t going to play and lead her team to a grand final.
