JAKE Kelly thought he knew what there was to know about football's Anzac Day links.
After playing with Adelaide, the former defender crossed to Essendon for the final three years of his career, playing in all three Anzac Day clashes against Collingwood.
And as the son of 1990 Magpies premiership player – and current club chief executive Craig – Kelly grew up around and attending the traditional April 25 contest.
But this year he will see it in a different perspective. Following his retirement from the game in 2024, Kelly now lives in London, and on Saturday the 31-year-old will be coaching a team of Australians playing in the Anzac Cup in France against a French team.
"I played in a Grand Final, but to me Anzac Day was honestly as special. Playing in those games were by far the most special games I played in in my football career bar none," Kelly told AFL.com.au.
"They just meant so much to me and so much to so many people and it was the only game where it had a meaning beyond football. So now to be able to do it and go to the dawn service on the western front and to be involved in a game at a town our country saved and essentially representing your country, that's pretty special.
"It's a game that's incredibly special and the French are so grateful for what we did for them."
The game was first played in 2008 and officially commenced the following year as a tradition in the small village in northern France, Villers-Bretonneux, and has grown into a rivalry between French and Australian men's and women's teams.
The Australian side is comprised of players with direct lineage to the Australian Defence Force – whether they have served themselves or are playing in honour of a family member's service.
For Kelly, it was all new.
"I was quite surprised because it's a far bigger organisation that I would've thought – there's leagues in almost every European country that operate a proper Saturday match, a ladder, a finals series, a Grand Final and that all feeds into AFL Europe as the governing body of the competitions. I had no idea of the enormity of it," he said.
"Then they explained they do all these amazing events throughout the year, one of them being this Anzac Day game. I just couldn't believe this game was something I knew nothing about. To have an Australian team play on Anzac Day on the battlefield and in a town we saved in World War I is just amazing."
Both men's and women's squads will attend the dawn service at the Australian War Memorial ahead of their games this weekend. The school in Villers-Bretonneux has a message that reads 'Never forget Australia' in its courtyard, which serves as recognition from the decisive battle more than a century ago.
Kelly, who has been living in London after his AFL career ended in 2024, became an AFL Europe ambassador and has been working with LIV Golf as an account manager. He didn't take much encouragement to get involved when approached to be coach, and said he will take some notes from his dad when he gets the magnet board to steer the Australian side this weekend.
"I've been told that we've actually lost to the French team the last few years, so that will change this year. I can assure you," he said.
"I might take inspiration from my dad when I watched him coaching when I was a kid, when he'd slam the whiteboard over his knee. I might go down that route."
Kelly played 110 games for the Crows, including their 2017 flag decider against Richmond, before crossing to Essendon at the end of 2021 as a free agent. He finished with 168 AFL games to his name and still keeps in contact with former teammates from both clubs.
Kelly sees flashes of Aussie Rules overseas – from people with Gold Coast jumpers running through the streets of London to occasionally spotting a set of goalposts at an oval to trying to explain the game to British friends at the pub – but there won't be an urge to pull the boots back on for one last hurrah this week.
"I still watch Adelaide and Essendon very closely and wish them all the best," he said.
"Since I retired I haven't really missed playing. I miss the people and care you get and the AFL environment. That's special and when you get into the corporate world you don't realise how great AFL environments are and the culture is so good. I miss Australians as well being over here."