Noel Raymond Kelly (22 January 193614 June 2020) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach, who played at club, state and national levels. He was named among the country's finest footballers of the 20th century. Kelly played as a , prop forward or for much of his top-grade career with the Western Suburbs Magpies, whom he played for in three consecutive NSWRFL grand finals from 1961 to 1963. Kelly was named at of the Western Suburbs Magpies, Queensland and Australian teams of the 20th century. Early life Kelly was born at Ipswich Hospital and brought up in Goodna. He attended primary school at St Mary's in Goodna, and the Christian Brothers high school, St Edmund's College, Ipswich, where he said he was "frequently belted or bashed or caned" by the Brothers. At age 12, his mother allowed him to enrol in the local state school, where he studied until he was 14. Goodna's first team played in the local district reserve grade competition, and Kelly played for the club from his junior league until he was in the first team as a young man, mostly playing as a lock or second rower. Playing career 1950s In 1956, Kelly began playing in the Ipswich Rugby League competition, first with Railways, and then, two years later, with Brothers. At Railways he played in the same side as Gary Parcell and Dud Beattie. At Brothers he was coached by Dan Dempsey, who had played on two Kangaroo tours. The Bulimba Cup was a tri-series played between sides representing Ipswich, Brisbane and Toowoomba. Playing at hooker, Kelly played in the Ipswich side which defeated the Toowoomba Downsmen 15–10 in the 1958 final, in front of a crowd of 7,242. Kelly said the repeated success in 1959 was his "spring board to state and international level". Kelly was chosen to play for Queensland in 1959 under captain-coach Clive Churchill. In an era when success in scrums was crucial, Kelly won the count in his debut 20–9 against the New South Wales hooker. He missed the second game of the series, but returned to see Queensland win the series 2–1. In 1959, Kelly played in the Queensland victory over New South Wales that attracted 35,261 spectators, smashing Brisbane's previous record for an interstate match of 22,817. Kelly was picked as hooker for his first test match against New Zealand. Later that year he embarked