On the eve of James Kelly’s 300th game former teammate Cam Mooney has lifted the lid on one of the most bizarre stories in football.
Twelve years ago as the Cats prepared to tackle Sydney in the 2005 semi-final – a game made famous by Nick Davis’s four final-term goals that sunk the Cats – Kelly, who is renowned for having size 15 feet, was going through the team warm-up on the SCG dressed in sneakers.
The plan was to return to the rooms to don his boots before running out for what was the second finals appearance of his then short career.
“Kel’s come back in after the warm up and he couldn’t find his boots and he was the only player with a foot that big,” Mooney told SEN’s The Run Home.
“So five minutes before we run out for a final he can’t find his boots.”
Hardly the ideal preparation given Kelly’s size 15 feet severely limited his options when it came to borrowing those of a teammate.
Little did Kelly know that as he was preparing for the game Nathan Ablett had been pulled from the side as the Cats ushered in a late change.
“Nathan Ablett was a late withdrawal so he had his dark suit on but didn’t have any shoes so he took Kel’s boots and wore them,” Mooney said.
“He was going up stairs for a pie and a coke dressed in a suit with Kel’s footy boots on.
“They called him and he came back down and gave Ke’ the boots back and he ran out. It was very bizarre.
“It was one of the great stories.”
Kelly’s boots served him well as he gathered 24 disposals and was named in the best of a beaten side.