Kelly issues an ominous warning to his old mates

GUN Eagles recruit Tim Kelly says tomorrow night’s clash with his old team is “West Coast versus Geelong, not Geelong versus Tim Kelly”.

But in an ominous warning for his former teammates after his best game for the Eagles in the demolition of Collingwood on Sunday Kelly said, “I don’t by any means feel like I’ve peaked. I believe I’ve got another level to go to.”

He said the Eagles midfield group he has joined is definitely starting to click with the ruck dominance of Nic Naitanui.

“Nic’s one of a kind in many ways, there aren’t really too many ruckmen in the league who are 360 degrees with where they can hit it,” he said. “One of the first things I thought once I officially moved across was how good it’s going to be roving to him and the weekend was probably a step forward in terms of mine and his chemistry and hopefully the more we play together it can continue to evolve.”

He revealed he “put his hand up” to step up when captain Luke Shuey hurt his hamstring.

“I wasn’t playing anywhere near my best footy and was struggling to have impact on games - I’d have moments where I was in the game and then out and I reckon we had a lot of guys in that same category. You lose someone like Shuey who is a big part of our engine room, it definitely makes you want to step up, and for me, I had to, because I was struggling to play my best footy,” he said.

Kelly said he remained “starstruck” by some of Geelong’s biggest names and had been since he arrived at Geelong for the 2018 season.

“I was star struck by those guys. I still am to be honest. It was great to have them as teammates and I learned a lot off those guys playing and training with them day in and day out,” he said.

“If there’s any team who knows what my best footy looks like and what I’m capable of its definitely Geelong so no doubt they’d know my strengths and some of my weaknesses to my game as well and they could very well try and mix some things up and do some things that might limit my impact on the game.”

Kelly said after years of draft disappointment he was determined to “enjoy the ride”.

“I still pinch myself,” Kelly said.