THE FIRST time Josh Kelly went through Sydney Airport after surgery he was forced to explain why the security scanners were beeping. Not many, if any, people his age have a titanium implant inserted in their hip. 

But the Greater Western Sydney midfielder does. 

The 31-year-old didn’t mention the 50mm wide piece of metal was in there to save his AFL career, but that’s the aim; that was the reason why Kelly finally bit the bullet, years after first being told this last resort might be his only chance to overcome the lingering problem.

Now seven months after orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Michael Solomon operated on his hip, Kelly is about to start running again. The Giants initially hoped he would return by this stage of winter, but the focus is now on banking a decent summer. Then it will turn to a round one return next year. 

Sir Andy Murray is the most famous athlete to undergo hip resurfacing surgery and return to elite sport. The Scot went down this radical path in 2019 after a decade of well publicised hip issues and extended his career, playing 78 more tennis tournaments across six more years, including 13 more Grand Slams.

Kelly doesn’t want you to feel sorry for him. Football has been generous. He has played 230 games since being selected pick No. 2 in the 2013 AFL National Draft, achieved a lot and been incredibly well paid to live his dream. Plus he has the security of a contract that runs through until the end of 2029.

But after a season sitting on the bench with a headset on and a direct line to the coaches’ box, rather than on the other side of the white line, Kelly doesn’t want to fade off into the sunset. He can finally see some light at the end of a long tunnel. 

"It's been a good process. There's no doubt I'm feeling better now, mentally and physically on the back of finally doing something about the hip and just getting it right," Kelly told AFL.com.au from the Giants’ hotel in East Melbourne last Thursday night.

"The rehab itself isn't all smooth sailing, but it's probably gone as good as it possibly could have gone. But in terms of where I am mentally, I'm in a good headspace. There was probably a period leading up to the surgery in the last year or two where I was struggling a little bit. I just couldn't really believe that that's what it had come to in terms of my football career in a way, and where my body was at. 

"But now, seven months later, the hip’s not perfect yet and there is still a bit to go, but I'm feeling really great in how I feel and where my head's at about things."

KELLY didn’t get to this point overnight. Far from it. The All-Australian midfielder purred like a Rolls Royce for a long time, but felt more like a beaten-up Camry with 300,000km on the odometer across the past couple of years. So how exactly did a then 30-year-old get to a career crossroads where the only option was so extreme? 

"I had a couple of scopes throughout my career. One in 2018 and then after 2018 I'd been dealing with just some hip soreness and I was on pretty close management for a while, but that cleared things up until the off-season 'Kingers' arrived in 2022. I just started noticing my hip. It kind of came out of nowhere, I just got a fair bit stiffer and sorer and never went away," he says.

"I was struggling a fair bit with it. It was a combination of soreness and stiffness, but it was predominantly just not being able to move the hip the way I like, because I know there's plenty of guys playing through soreness, but it became chronic in 2023 and it probably got to a stage in 2024 where it impacted day-to-day life a fair bit, just basic movements like putting my shoes and socks on and bending over.

"A lot of people are dealing with chronic pain, so I never thought I was in a worse basket than anyone else, it was just trying to play professional sport with that. It became a juggling act that I was just losing over that period. It probably just got to a stage in 2025 where I was incredibly sore and couldn't function, couldn't bend over to pick a ground ball up, absorbed a lot of my day-to-day life, struggled with training and games were obviously not ideal. 

"There were a few crossroads within that year and around taking some time off, seeing what we can do to manage it. Ultimately, the decision to go ahead with the surgery at the end of the year because … I wasn't too keen to continue playing with the way it was."

Greater Western Sydney’s high performance department, led by head of medical Andrew Ryan and head of performance health Matt Cameron, explored options across the globe and consulted specialists everywhere. Then they reported back to GM Jason McCartney, Kelly and his long-time manager Paul Connors from CDG Sports. They kept coming back to the outcome that saved Murray’s career. 

"We decided halfway through last year that for his own wellbeing and sustainability in the game, and with the state that his hip joint was in, that this resurfacing procedure (was the best course of action)," Ryan said this week.

"There was a lot of deliberation about when to do it and what does it all mean. We couldn't afford, for his sake and for the team, to try and just work his way through that until his career was going to be over because it just wasn't going to work,"

"We went to look at sports that involved obviously impact and change of direction and some kicking obviously because kicking is so unique to the AFL game. Matt and I researched who had had it done and had made a return of sorts. Interestingly, Andy Murray was the only one that actually went back on the ATP tour and played again, whereas everyone else that had had it done, had retired or had gone back and played footy or sport at a local level. 

"We put those options on the table for Josh and said you could be the first guy in the AFL that comes back and plays ideally at the highest level with the years remaining in your contract."

CALLING it quits crossed Kelly’s mind at times. "I contemplated retiring if there was no other option. Yeah, for sure I did think about it," he says in the lounge of the Pullman Hotel, while inaugural Greater Western Sydney coach Kevin Sheedy watches on from the bar. 

Kelly never thought he’d enjoy coaching, but this year it has provided an avenue to stay involved on game day, working with the midfielders while liaising from ground level to the box. If he doesn’t put the business degree he has almost finished to good use, coaching could be what he does when he finishes playing. 

"I've enjoyed it more than I thought I would," he admits. "I wasn't sure if I'd ever get into coaching. Part of me for a long time wanted to put all my effort into the football basket and then just maybe try something else afterwards. I've enjoyed it, and to be fair, the coaches are doing all the hard work. I help out a bit on game day where I can put on the headset, down on the bench. It's definitely opened my eyes and if I was to go down that line, I think that this experience has been definitely beneficial."

Kelly was three months into his rehabilitation when Greater Western Sydney’s season changed course before it even started. February 13 could prove to be a defining date this year. It was the day reigning best and fairest winner Tom Green ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament at training. 

The pair have watched on powerlessly as the Giants have limped to 6-9 to currently sit a game and a half outside the wildcard spots with eight rounds to play. Kelly and Green plan to head to Dublin to visit performance rehabilitation specialist Dr. Enda King in the coming months, leaning on each other to navigate the hurdles one can’t fully appreciate until faced with them.

"It was a bit of a shitty time for the club when Tom Green goes down with an ACL and he was dominating at the time. But I think I think being able to work with him, and a couple of other guys it has kept us in a pretty good spot mentally. We do most things together at the footy club, so it's been good to have that because otherwise I think long term rehab can get pretty dark and lonely at times. It's been a silver lining for both of us, I'm sure," he says.

"We plan on going overseas. I think the opportunity to work with guys like that throughout this period to come back better than before is something we don't really want to pass up in terms of making the most of the situation we're in. We want to bullet-proof ourselves as much as we can going forward and set ourselves up. Tom’s younger than me, but we both have the same mindset around it in terms of setting ourselves up for the rest of our career. I think it's an opportunity in a shitty situation to get ourselves in the best position possible."

THERE has been a gradual changing of the guard at Greater Western Sydney since Adam Kingsley arrived. Phil Davis retired first. Then Cal Ward. Two brilliant leaders that helped Kelly and that generation of boys grow into men. 

Stephen Coniglio was replaced by Toby Greene as captain. Both are in the autumns of their careers, yet to sign contracts for 2027 and might not be here next year. Connor Idun and Green are considered next in line to lead. Sam Taylor and Brent Daniels are committed long-term. Finn Callaghan has emerged as the next big thing. 

But after playing in 18 finals, including the 2019 Grand Final and four preliminary finals, Kelly has lived the evolution of the Giants up close, but does he really think an elusive first premiership is still a possibility before his time in the AFL is done?

"Oh, massively. That's always been a huge motivation of mine throughout my career," he says as Idun and Daniels walk past and head to do some recovery downstairs at Salt. 

"I think to come back, feel healthy, play good football and aim for a premiership. I think that's something that's always motivated us at the Giants in particular. Like, we've been close a number of times and that’s partly why you play football, working towards that goal. The week in, week out of trying to get the best out of yourself and the team. That carrot still lingers there for me as does returning to play the football that I know I'm capable of. So there's a couple of things that still motivate me for sure."

Like three-time Grand Slam champion Murray, Kelly is attempting to do something that other AFL players haven’t done before: play at the elite level with a metal hip. Former Melbourne rookie and NBL basketballer Corey Maynard reached out and shared his experience after reports surfaced that Kelly was considering the surgery last year. Robbie Tarrant and Michael Hurley both got it done after their careers and have recovered well. 

"We have every confidence that it will work," Ryan says. "What we won't know at the end of the day is, what level he can get back to in the early days. But it's given him a new freedom. Look we wouldn't have done it if we didn't feel that we've got an opportunity to get him back. It's a bit of an unprecedented area, right, but we've got a lot of experience and the research is there that he's got every chance to get back on the field and then let's see where it goes from there."

Not much has been written about Murray’s recovery that Kelly hasn’t read. He watched the tennis star’s documentary Andy Murray: Resurfacing and the Scot’s return has fuelled Kelly’s confidence that he can not only survive again at the top level but thrive.

"Watching him do it gives a lot of belief to do it," Kelly says. Now he is getting closer to doing it again. 

Kelly isn't done yet.