Noel Raymond Kelly OAM (22 January 1936 – 14 June 2020) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer and coach, who played at club, state and national levels.

In an era when success in scrums was crucial, Kelly won the count in his debut 20–9 against the New South Wales hooker.

[4] 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.

Initially linked to Souths, he eventually chose Western Suburbs because they offered better accommodation, and, "two big prop forwards", which he insisted was "something I must have".

[8] The club initially delayed paying the transfer fee to North Queensland side, Ayr, while Kelly spent eight weeks recovering from a cartilage operation.

Before the start of the 1963 season, he asked the Magpies for a trial at prop, as it was thought he, "wrecked his chances in representative sides with the large number of penalties he incurred as hooker".

[10] In June, he returned to the Australian team, taking the place of captain Billy Wilson, who had been dropped for the third match of the series against New Zealand.

He played prop in the first game of the two match series against South Africa, but returned to hooker in the second, replacing Walsh who was sidelined with a broken nose.

Kelly has said that he believes referee Darcy Lawler had accepted money to help St George win the 1963 Grand Final.

[15] Kelly made his second Kangaroo Tour, playing at prop forward as captain Ian Walsh was again chosen as hooker.

[18] Kelly injured himself in the first game of the 1967 season with Wests, and a 10 May news report said he was still suffering from blurred vision and no chance of playing in 10 June test match against New Zealand.

The decider was won 11–3 by Australia, with, "the one sour note" of the match being "the dismissal of veteran hooker Noel Kelly only three minutes from the end" after a stiff arm tackle on opposition half Tommy Bishop.

[24] Facing suspension for the tackle, Kelly was allowed to play in the test against France a week later, while waiting for official notification from the English Rugby League to arrive in the mail.

[38] The yearly award for the best forward at the Wests Tigers club is named the Noel Kelly Medal in his honour.

[39] In the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, Kelly was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to rugby league.