With Shane Smeltz and Miles Sterjovski filling the club's two marquee roles and an already constrained salary cap, Kelly reiterated the Glory would not make a bid for Kewell, even if the Socceroos star were willing to play on an "incentive only" deal.
"It's only the third time the likes of Shane Smeltz, Liam Miller and Travis Dodd have played together.
Up front, Shane Smeltz and Travis Dodd were constant threats as they forced impressive Al Ahli stopper Obaid Al Taweela into a series of fine saves.
Shane Smeltz had a couple of chances in the second half but the Jets shut down the Glory attack effectively to give coach Gary van Egmond the first win of his new tenure.
"Key Perth Glory duo Liam Miller and Shane Smeltz have been ruled out of Saturday's crucial Hyundai A-League match against Brisbane Roar but coach Ian Ferguson still fancies his side's chances.
Marquee striker Smeltz missed last week's 2-0 win against Newcastle after blood injection to fix an ongoing ankle complaint but hasn't recovered in time, while Miller is still battling a hamstring injury which forced him off early against the Jets.
Miller and Smeltz have been two of Perth's most important players in the run which has seen them win four of their past five games and give them a chance of making the top two.
Their absence for Saturday's game is a significant blow, given victory at nib Stadium would take third-placed Glory (34 points) within one point of the second-placed Roar, who have 38 from their 22 games.
But Ferguson said his team had strong depth and was confident of beating Brisbane without them, with Miller's place expected to be taken by Adam Hughes and Billy Mehmet to continue up front in Smeltz's absence.
"Liam will miss and so will Smeltzy. Liam is probably another week behind and Smeltzy is still feeling it a bit," he said."
Smeltz was born in Germany to an American serviceman father and an English mother, and has lived in Australia since he was six.
"My old man was in the American army and he was shipped to Germany and at a base there."
"My mother was a pilot and was with my old man there, and that's how I came about. Although they were born in the US and England, they were both raised in New Zealand.
"When I left Germany, just before I turned 1, I was on my mother's passport and she had a Kiwi passport. When I moved to Australia at the age of six, I was still on that and never changed it."
He lived in New Zealand from age one to six but only returned for one season - in 2002 for Napier City Rovers - before signing a two-year deal with the Phoenix in 2007.
He has spent a total of nine of his 30 years in New Zealand.
"It's a difficult one to explain," he muses. "I get a bit of stick from the boys for that."
ARCHIE THOMPSON:
Big Pete 65, Christchurch
With Shane Smeltz off his game, the Glory were rocked and suddenly the cries of "Oh Wellington" could be heard from a tiny pocket of Phoenix fans bolstered by Sonny Bill Williams and his fellow Chiefs.
@ShaneSmeltz @cat_pol @jacko442 BTW you're in the new 442 mag out tomorrow. Best and Worst Foreigners in the UK feature.
Only Shane Smeltz, with a highly respectable 17 strikes in 37 matches, justifies the description of "ace goal scorer".
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/opinion/6952772/Goal-drought-a-concern-for-the-All-Whites
.@PerthGloryFC have reportedly turned down a $400,000 offer for Shane Smeltz from New York Redbulls. #aleague #MLS
Can't imagine Mrs. Smeltz is best pleased.
Smeltz would be hard to replace, top goal scorer and counts as an Aussie. They could try and replace him with the 1 remaining import slot, but you would think it would take more than the added 400k to replace him with someone that could score as much.
Can't imagine Mrs. Smeltz is best pleased.
Fuck this stupid game
There is some pretty good shopping there thats for sure.
Apparently his agent was shopping Smeltz around the K-League just before the Oly-Whites match last Saturday. A few clubs were supposed to be sending scouts to Seoul WC Stadium.
Smeltz obliged by getting a goal, but I've not seen any reports since.
You would think that it would take a large offer for the Glory to sell him. He would be hard to replace cheap, and has 2 more seasons left on his contract.
With Shane Smeltz in the Perth line-up there will be plenty of interest in that game and the clashes between Auckland City and Waitakere have always been crowd-pullers.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10826696
Aidan Ormond