New black fern on the field Rosie Kelly

Rosie Kelly played for the winning side, Matatū, in last year’s inaugural season of Super Rugby Aupiki, but now there’s a new jersey on the horizon for her.

Sporting a Black Ferns jersey didn’t seem possible until Rosie shared a room with women’s rugby legend Ruby Tui at a provincial nationals sevens tournament. While her brother initially introduced Rosie to the game, it was Ruby who initiated the dream.

“That’s when I found out she was from the West Coast,” laughs Rosie.

For Hokitika born and bred Rosie, connecting with someone who followed a similar pathway and ended up a household name was a defining  moment in her fledgling career. She describes that realisation as “crazy,” and reminded herself “you can definitely be there too.”

Growing up on the coast, Rosie could be found outside, playing games with her brother and friends, and learning any sport she could. “I was the ultimate tomboy,” she says. Her brother was three years older and her dad was the coach of his team, and while the level of rugby was out of her league, she always joined in.

“I definitely looked up to him throughout my childhood. I was in awe of him.”

That coaching expertise and fatherly support helped push Rosie to reach for the stars. In the rain after school when everyone else was inside, Rosie was training, her dad reminding her that “nothing comes easy”. She labels it as her “fondest and almost worst memory at the same time”, saying that the work ethic she gained from her dad was a catalyst in achieving her goals.

Fast-forward, and with hard work comes big returns. Just one week after Super Rugby Aupiki ended, Rosie was ready to jump on a plane destined for Japan to play sevens, when she received a life-changing phone call. Rosie was asked to re-think her Japan contract because she was being offered something a whole lot better.

The rest of that phone call blended into a haze of excitement and shock. “It was a crazy week of emotions,” she says.

Now on a full-time rugby contract, Rosie’s days are different, yet just as busy as her years balancing study, work and training. Travelling with her teammates, gym, speed and mental skills analysis sessions, leadership workshops and club rugby, it’s hard to believe that she  has any free time.

When she does, it’s “anything but rugby”.  A qualified physiotherapist, Rosie dreams of eventually applying her knowledge to a high-performance team, although for now she’s focused on embracing the experience she’s worked so hard to be a part of.

Making so many new rugby connections has been great, she says. “I’m literally now working every day with my best friends. They’re not just teammates.” She still has friends on the field who she made after moving to Christchurch Girls High School, aged 13, for its women’s rugby programme.

Opportunity hasn’t come without pressure though. Rosie says that the hardest part has been finding a life/rugby balance. After a “go-go-go” 2022, she finds she now has more time training with the Black Ferns to focus on her game and skills, and she’s learnt to schedule downtime into each day to feel connected, motivated and present. “It’s about letting myself be happy, remembering that nobody is perfect, and being my own person.

“I’ve got to be myself. That’s what got me my contract.”

Images: Rachel Whareaitu, Photosport.