| Russell Kelly | |
| Birth Date: | 25 November 1909 |
| Birth Place: | Murwillumbah, NSW, Australia |
| Death Place: | Concord West, NSW, Australia |
| Position: | Back-row |
| Repyears1: | 1936–38 |
| Repcaps1: | 7 |
| Reppoints1: | 2 |
Russell Lindsay Frederick Kelly (25 November 1909 — 25 December 1943) was an Australian rugby union international.
Born in Murwillumbah, Kelly was educated at Canterbury Boys' High School, where he learnt his rugby.[1]
Kelly, a back-row forward, debuted in Sydney first-grade rugby in 1931 with Northern Suburbs, but spent the majority of his career at Drummoyne. Between 1933 and 1939, Kelly was a regular New South Wales representative, with 28 appearances. He was capped seven times for the Wallabies from 1936 to 1938, debuting on a tour of New Zealand.[2]
Enlisting in 1940, Kelly served in World War II with an anti-tank regiment and attained the rank of sergeant. While trapped with his unit in fighting near Tobruk, he was struck by machine gun fire, which shattered most of his ribs.[3] He was held by Italian forces as a prisoner of war in Benghazi and was later moved to a Naples hospital. In July, 1943, Kelly was repatriated in a prisoner exchange and died five months later while undergoing an operation for his injuries in Sydney.[4] [5]